The Rise and Fall of History: A Past Unseen
by Medigo
Summary: The world of dueling has reached a standstill. Many stories have been told through these cards, and the final story pits every side against each other. It is a game no more. Duelists are divided, and an unknown enemy watches from afar. In the midst of all this chaos is one man who brings a new power that can forever end the conflict; a stranger to this world and to himself.
1. Duelist without a Name

**Annex 001: The Duelist with no Name**

 _Before today there was nothing; no buildings, no faces, no voices. Everyone knew there should have been something, anything. So why could he not see it? It was just him, he was the first to shpw up. Was the rest all misplaced? Yes_ _, every story had to begin somewhere. But the kind of setting they chose, was not a place for beginnings. There were stones all around him, with names carved into them. He did not know these names, he only knew why the stones were there. This was a graveyard, those were tombstones. This was where people came for endings. Why was he here? Did he arrive too late? He hoped not. Perhaps this was a dream? Dreams always missed the first few pages and made one feel like a completely different person now. This was normal right? Except it felt real, and there was nothing before the dream either.._

 _He was not alone. Someone approached, cried out. He tried to answer, but the world around him went dark. "Ah.. I was awake." He thought. Not anymore; he fell into a deep dreamless sleep._

"Whaaahhh!" The first thing he saw and heard when he woke up, was a girl yelling in surprise and backing away. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to..I wasn't going to take it, sir!" The girl stammered before she turned around and scampered out through a door, shouting someone else's name. "What?" That was a lot to absorb. Where was he? On a bed, inside of someone else's house, someone's bedroom. It was a soft bed, not his own. It was too big for just one person. This room had huge closets and a large mirror, nothing that looked familiar. Then again neither did his own clothes, a hoodie and jeans. He did not feel uncomfortable in them. The man saw his own face in the mirror. What did she say earlier? Sir? He didn't look that old. Just a normal teen face, bit of a tan.. quite handsome too he reckoned.

"Look, look! He's awake!" A somewhat familiar voice returned at that moment, with company. "I can see that. What did I tell ya about poking him in his sleep?" Two girls entered the room. "I just wanted to see it. It was pretty." He got a better look at the one from before now. She was short, had shoulder-length blond hair and wore a sleeved summer-dress. She spoke with a peppier tone then the newer taller one. That one was redhaired and wore a shirt with overalls. "Uhh, how are you?" She had noticed rather lingering silent stare. It took Him a while to even process their words, as if his senses were dulled. "He must think we're criminals or anything. I'm so sorry! I wasn't going to steal your necklace!" The one girl apologized again. "Necklace?" He realized now what she had been looking at before. It was something around his neck, a chain-link necklace with a thin jewel pendant attached. "This is mine?" He was as surprised by this item as he was by the sound of his own voice. He expected himself to sound deeper..

"You're making us sound like an underworld gang. Slow down with the imagination Alice." The redhaired one cleared her throat. "Look. I guess this is all very confusing. Let's start with names. Mine's Emily, Emily Brandt. This is my sister Alice." She pointed at the other girl who nodded. "She found you at the cemetery, half-asleep. We took you home, figuring it was better for you to rest here. You were out for about an hour." That explained a lot. This was their place. "Hmhm.. thanks. Nice to meet you, Emily.. Alice." If nothing else, he was grateful for the fact that someone showed up during his dream, if it was a dream at all. "Nice to meet you too mister... Mister...ehr.. mister we don't know the name of." But Alice's response pointed out one of many questions that remained. He had not told them their name. It was the expected courtesy. He would have liked to be courteous too if he could. "Uhm, Well this is going to sound silly.. Buuuut. I kinda don't know either."

"Whaaaaat?" Emily shouted. "How can you not know your own name? Is there something you are hiding?" Suspicion set in almost instantly. "It slipped my mind?" He offered an excuse even he found weak once he had uttered it. "It's just.." The reality however was far more unnerving. " I can't remember. I don't know... who I am." Saying it made it decisive. "..Amnesia?" Alice gasped. "You lost your memories? Did you hit your head?" Emily knew a little about about things like this, trauma to the head could cause brief bouts of amnesia. "Don't think so." He checked himself in the mirror again. He saw no wounds. "Can't find out if it's something on the inside.." Emily started to think. She appeared willing to help. So did Alice. "Do you remember anything? Do you know what year it is? What day?" He just shook his head. "Don't even know where I am."

A few minutes later the three had moved to the living room. For the time being, the nameless man opted to go by the name of 'Bob'. Might as well give the ladies something to use. Emily was doing some research online, about cases like his and who could best aid him. They couldn't take him to the hospital on their own. This town was in the middle nowhere. Meanwhile Alice offered 'Bob' a softdrink. "Not bad." At least his body remembered what he liked. "Hmm.. can you say what your favorite color is? For example, mine is blue and my sister likes green. And who is the president of our country?" The girl gave him new questions for him to consider. "Orange? Maybe? But that's of a feeling than a memory. As for the second question.. this country has a president?" All the information Bob had was factual, and not much at that. He could tell what he was and how to live, not who he was and how he lived.

"Maybe it will help if you look at your own stuff.." The girl was still hopeful that the memories would come back sooner or later. "That might work." He was willing to give it a shot. Not much else to do. "Well these clothes could have been bought anywhere." Bob pulled a set of red-tinted shades out of his pockets. "...but this is neat." He said with a big grin as he put the shades on. "Heehee. I like it!" Alice giggled. "Nothing else? No ID or wallet?" Those could have been very illuminating. Alas, the man found no such items on his person. Besides the necklace, there was only one other object to inspect. "Hey now." He took out a pair of devices with screens on them. "Are those.." Alice's eyes lit up. "Dueldisks?" Upon her words, one of the devices activated and unfolded. Energy shot out to form a blade. "Whoa." Emily was equally speechless. "You know what this is?" Bob asked. "Do you?" Emily wondered the same thing. He had not flinched at all when that tiny thing transformed.

Just then the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Alice ran off to open it. "Heya. Is the dead guy still around?" In came a rather thuggish-looking boy with short black hair. He wore a college jacket, but he did not look old enough to be in college. "He wasn't dead, he was just at the graveyard..." She corrected him and let him inside the house. "Uh. This is our neighbor, Eric. Eric this is..mister Bob. ... He can't remember who he is." She added quickly before the situation got confusing. "Greetings, Eric." It already was, but Bob was just happy to see another face. "Yeah Hi. Just came by to make sure no.. No way." Eric's priorities quickly shifted. "What is that _dueldisk_? He's a duelist? But that model, I have never seen one so advanced.." His mouth was wide-open with awe. "Hey, maybe he's from the guilds?" He snapped back with an inexplicable epiphany. "Guilds?" Bob had no idea what Eric was talking about. Allthough to his own amazement,he understood everything else.

"Okay calm down. This guy does not need a million headaches. We need to take it slow." Emily butted in before Eric could get near. "I have an idea. Let's retrace your steps. Maybe we can figure out how you got here." It was the best solution she could offer. "Sounds like a plan. Wanted to take a walk around anyway." The world Bob knew was so very tiny. Any expansion was welcome.

So the girls and Eric showed Bob around town. 'In the middle of nowhere' indeed; there were a few streets and several dozen homes. That was about it. This village rested on hills far from civilization. It was a miracle that they even had their own public school. Eric did most of the talking, while Alice just walked by his side and waited for a sign of recovery. The man had to admit that it was pleasant to learn how much he still knew. Simple things like crossing the street and reading signs. He just wished something else would come back to him. Or someone in the streets to recognize him. No luck. Not even their last stop, the cemetery, seemed to jog his memory. He had not left a trail of any kind, as if he simply appeared on the spot. "Darn. What else can we do?" Alice sighed as they made their way back home. "Alice, maybe we should just get him to a doctor." Emily did not want to worry their guest, but she had read that the longer the amnesia lasted, the harder it was to undo it.

"No way. You can't let this beat you!" Eric shouted. "Isn't it clear what we should do? He's a duelist, we need to bring back his dueling spirit!" He sounded so confident in his own suggestion, that the girls had nothing to say against it. "Heh? You're telling me you are duelists too?" Bob was not too surprised somehow. Didn't look like you had much else to do around here. "We play a little here and there. Never with dueldisks though." Alice explained before trailing off. She did not want to overwhelm him with too much information. "Maybe it can work. Maybe you were dueling.. when it happened." He had two disks, they could duel with them if they wanted. "You know what? I kinda want to do this." Now that the idea was in Bobs head, it would not let him go. That had to mean something. "Alice, do you want to duel with me?" He handed her his other disk. "M-me?" She could not believe it. "You were the one who found me. I owe you." He smiled. "Oh..well then.. okay!" She said as her face turned red. "Of course you wouldn't say no, would you sis?" Emily just stepped aside and dragged Eric with her. "Wha.. She gets to go first? But, it was my idea." He was burning with envy.

"How do I turn this on? Like this?" Alice found the biggest button on the disk and pushed it.

Alice's LP: 8000

"Yay, nailed it! And now.. oh wait, I didn't bring my cards. Just a sec!" She dashed off into the house and came back out with a full deck. "Okay, now I'm ready! Are you?" Alice wondered if she had to explain some rules to him. "I'm good. I will go second." There was no need, his Disk already had cards inserted, five of which had been drawn. His lifepoints were set, No name was registered to this device, so he typed it down himself.

Bob's LP: 8000

"Then let's go!" Alice drew her cards too, five of them. The one who started the duel did not get a drawphase. "I..summon this guy! Mermail Abysspike!" She had plenty of monster cards to put on the disk's blade section which held the monster slots. And the device itself created a three-dimensional image of light afterwards, forming a muscular merman(4/1600/800) with long blonde hair. "Ooooooh." Alice had heard of the disks visual abilities, but she had never imagined it would make cards look this real. "Okay, enough ogling.. Bob, do you know what Abysspike can do?" She asked Bob a different question. "It discards a water card from your hand to claim a level 3 or lower water-type monster from the deck..right?" His answers remained astonishing. "Y-yeah." Alice discarded a seaserpent, Atlantean Dragoons. "And when that monster, Dragoons, is sent to the grave for a water monsters effect; you can add another Atlantean from the deck to your hand." Bob continued, while Alice took her two new monsters; an Atlantean Markmans and Atlantean Heavy Infantry. "You are.. you know a lot. But what about your cards?"

Alice finished her turn. Control moved to the other player. "My cards?" Bob drew his sixth card. "Well.. they're quite exotic." A glimpse at his hand made him snicker. They would be surprised no doubt. "I summon.. Performapal Whip Snake!" What he brought out was a purple cobra(4/1700/900) of a most unusual kind. "Wh-wh-wha? Does that snake have a top-hat? And a bow-tie? And stars on his cheeks?" Eric was not entirely sure his eyes were working properly. "Sure looks like it." Emily just laughed while the snake did a little happy dance. "Ohmigosh that's so cute! What does it do?" Neither Alice, nor the others had ever heard of this card before, or any card like it. "I'll show you! My Pal here can switch the attack and defense points of another monster. Behold!" The snake used its heart-tipped tail to hypnotize Mermail Abysspike, lulling him(800/1600) into a more submissive stance. "My first performance, Whip Snake will tango with the Mermail!" The cobra lunged forward and stomped down on the Mermail with its body coiled up like a screwdriver. "How was that?" Bob then ended his turn, after he placed a card down in his spell/trap zone.

Alice's LP: 7100

"I love it! It's so.. I don't know what to call it." Alice could barely contain herself, a whole new world was opening up. "Huh? Oh right, my turn!" She normal summoned a new merman monster, the lungfish merman, Mermail Abysslung(4/1400/1800). "Well.. Abysslung gives 200 attackpoints to all water monsters." The Mermail (1400/1800) bolstered its own powers with its effect. "That wont be enough, Alice." Eric pointed out. "I know I know. I am gonna use a spell too! It's an equip card; Abysscale of Mizuchi!" Abysslung(2200/1800) donned new silver plate armor with aquagreen fins. "This gives a Mermail 800 more points of attack, so.. I am gonna attack your monster now Mr. Bob." Alice found the appropriate button on her screen and made her monster act on her command. Abysslung tore through Whip Snake with the metallic blades on its arms. The snake looked quite frightened as it was destroyed. "Aw. It even has its own little death animation." Now she felt sad for it.

Bob's LP: 7500

"Don't mind that, what about him? Bob, anything come back yet?" Emily still did not see any changes because of this duel. "Not yet. But let's keep going. This feels right.. and fun!" He could not say why, but he was getting psyched. He couldn't quit now. "Then it's your turn." Alice was done. Bob accepted. He entered his draw phase "I set one monster face'down and.." Bob switched his earlier face-down card face-up. "I activate the continuous trap: Ultimate Offering. While it is on the field, I can pay 500 lifepoints to normal summon a second monster!" The next monster was summoned face-up, it was a pink hippo(3/800/800), also with top-hat and bow-tie. His deck was starting to approach a theme.

Bob's LP: 7000

"When I normal summon Performapal Hip Hippo, I can normal summon a level 7 monster afterwards!" He removed the Hip Hippo and his set monster from the board. "Tribute summon!?" And the others watched as the tributes made way for a far bigger monster, a great red dragon(7/2500/2000) with spikes on its back. "Alice say hi to Odd-Eyes Dragon! He's gonna attack! When he overpowers another monster..." The dragon smacked Abysslung away into the distance with its tail. "..he inflicts damage equal to half that monsters original attackpoints!" The attack shook the digital field, cutting life away from Abysslung's owner. "This one is less adorable." Alice said. "Yeah. This is what I'd call the showstopping number. It's mine, I am sure of that." Bob placed another trap card down and ended his turn.

Alice's LP: 6200

"Ooh, tribute summons are a big deal. But.." Alice grinned. "I have some big deals too!" For her normal summon, Alice summoned the Spined Gillman(3/1300/0). The trident wielding seaserpent's effect would give 300 attackpoints to all fish/aqua and seaserpents she controlled, including itself(1700/0). "Ooooh, wanna see a _special_ summon?" Out of nowhere, she discarded her two Atlanteans and a Mermail Abyssgunde from her hand and summoned her highlevel monster. "Mermail Abyssleed! He can call himself out if I send three water monsters away from my hand!" A large jurrasic fishman(7/3000/1000) in red armor made his entrance wit a big splash.

The waves were so big that they wiped out his set trap card and Odd-Eyes Dragon. "You destroyed my cards? Nice moves." At the same time Abysslung(1700/1800) returned to the surface, further enhancing the stats of Alice's legion. (Abyssleed: 3200 atk, Gillman: 1900 atk). "Discarding those Atlanteans triggered their effects." Emily had seen that combo before. When they were sent to the graveyard for the effect of Abyssleed, Marksman destroyed a set card and Heavy Infantry destroyed a face-up card. Mermail Abyssgunde meanwhile could revive any Mermail if she were sent from the hand to the graveyard. "Hey, I know how those cards work. You don't have to tell me that she has this in the bag. Go for it Alice!" Eric cheered her on. He had already forgotten why she was dueling Bob in the first place. "I would like to, but.." Alice had not however. "Mister?" In fact she was not focusing on the duel anymore. Something was wrong with Bob now. "Can you hear me?"

 _He couldn't. He was in another world again. Now it looked the same, same mountain, same trees, same ground. Only the voices of those around him were far and away. What he felt besides distress, he did not know. He wanted to run yet couldn't. What pulled him to this state? Was it the destruction of his monster or his imminent defeat? Did it matter that much? No, not them. They were not the danger. There was something else behind him, getting closer and closer. Was He what came before? Was he a figment from the past? If so, was it worth remembering? It was speaking to him now, calling out to him. Calling..._ _ **"There may not be much time, for anyone, and they will hunt you. But I cannot run anymore. Keep it, ***, until..."**_ _He wanted to listen, to stay. However, the darkness did stay with him for long._

"Eh?" He snapped back to consciousness, still standing upright. A bright light had woken him up. "The jewel?" The light came from the pendant. It was emitting a warm white glow. "Everyone is seeing this, ri.." Though as soon as Bob touched it he began to feel a little lightheaded and nearly took a tumble. "Easy there pal. I got ya." Emily caught him just in time. "Oh. That's some strong arms you got there, Em." He managed to put up a sly smirk as he was held in her arms. "Watch the flattery, or I might just drop ya." She returned the words with a frown, she was not in the mood. "Mister, what happened? What was that light?" Alice came to his side as well. She saw that the jewel was cold and dim by now. "Hey, what about the duel? You were winning!" Eric stayed where he was. He wanted to see the damn finisher. "This is a bit more important, Eric." Emily hissed. "The game did something alright. It didn't look good tho."

"No..It did help. Emily, Alice.." Bob sat down. He did not have the strength to stand, but he was satisfied in spite of that. He had regained something. "Now I know a name...Uno." He heard it, inside that dream. "Uno? Is that tour name?" Emily wondered. "Who knows? I'm keeping it.. sounds better than Bob eh?"

(To be Continued in Annex 002: First Ripples then Waves)

 **Cards used by Bob/Uno  
** Performapal Whip Snake  
Performapal Hip Hippo  
Odd-Eyes Dragon

-  
Ultimate Offering

 **Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Mermail Abysspike  
Atlantean Dragoons  
Mermail Abysslung  
Mermail Abyssleed  
Atlantean Attack Squad  
Atlantean Heavy Infantry  
Mermail Abyssgunde  
Spined Gillman

-  
Abysscale of the Mizuchi


	2. First Ripples then Waves

**Annex 002:** **First Ripples then Waves**

By the time the father of the Brandt household came back from work, his two daughters had much to tell him. "You should be glad you're only feeling tired, kid. I wouldn't have moved around after an accident like yours." Uno, as he now called himself, had forced himself back to the couch to regain the strength he lost from the previous duel. "It could have been worse. I'm sure the rest will come back eventually." Uno was in a good mood. He was feeling less tired and he knew more now than he did four hours ago. "That might be. Nevertheless I am going to suggest you check in at the hospital down the hills. I am willing to take you there in the morning." Mr. Brandt doubted Uno could make it there on his own. Allthough he was more curious how this man got all the way here. He was not a local, that was certain. "The hour is late now. You are welcome to sleep here tonight." Perhaps rest was all Uno needed. "Thanks..mr. Brandt. That's very generous."

"Please, call me James.. or just Brandt. Either will do."

Once that conversation had been wrapped up, Uno's focus shifted to the TV-set in front of him. "Hmm. I wonder.." He grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels. "Are you looking for something? I can help." Alice assumed that maybe he was looking for a news channel. He must've had a million questions about the world. "Well I..ooh." Or he didn't. "Toons.." Uno's zapping led him to the local cartoon channel. He put the remote aside and glued his eyes to the screen. "You like this?" Alice dared to get closer and plopped down on the left side of the couch. "What's not to like?" He was already laughing his heart out after one scene of slapstick. The history of the world could wait, that was not going anywhere. "Hmm..oh. I've already seen this episode." Alice recognized the scenes. "But you don't have to worry about that right? I mean.." For Uno all things would be new to him. It was funny in a way, but cruel in another. It could almost sound rude to say it. "Oh, but I did not mean it like that. I'm.."

"Ah don't worry. I can take a joke. Just don't spoil the episode for me." By the next comical scene Uno had already brushed aside her words. "Well I'm glad you can still laugh. You like this kind of stuff. Is that maybe why you have those cards?" Uno's tastes, when it came to media, lined up with his dueling style. "I don't doubt it. I ask you, why do people duel? To have fun of course. So why not make sure the cards look interesting for the crowd?" Uno paused briefly. What he was saying made almost too much sense for someone who did not remember where said cards came from. "And what about your amulet-thing? That's special too." The pendant had definitely given of some kind of glow earlier, it was not simply reflecting sunlight. "You know. I'm starting to think this doesn't belong to me." Uno admitted. Not only was the jewel heavy and clunky, he did not know what it was made of. Unlike his dueldisk and his cards, his body had no subconscious reactions to it. It was a foreign element. "Still, might as well keep it. I have little else.."

The other two Brandts watched the two from a short distance. "Well, she's pretty obsessed again." She talked softly enough to avoid being heard by the two. "I can't see any danger. He does not look much older than either of you." Her father replied with a cheeky grin. "You know I don't.. gyuh.. Not what I was talking about, dad. She shouldn't get attached.. he could be gone soon." Emily growled under her breath. It was always like this, her sister was always too happy.. never considering consequences. "Something not normal is going on with him. Maybe one of the guilds is involved. You do not get such 'things' for free." She said while eyeing his dueldisks. Nobody around here had machines that advanced. "Maybe. But Uno has not done anything to you while I was gone, has he? I feel like we can trust him." He was at ease. His daughter clearly wasn't. "But I suppose I can ask around town to see if anyone has seen or heard anything. Okay? I guess I will drag my poor old foot out there." He let out a long exaggerated moan. "Dad, dont be so dramatic... and thanks." James put on his coat and headed out. "Anytime hon."

Not a minute later, Eric was at the door. "Well, I want to say this is a surprise, but..." Emily had put two and two together as soon as she opened the door. She did not need the extra hint that was in Erics hands; a pack of cards. "Hey! I'm just here to help Uno!" He waltzed inside before Emily could get in his way and threw his jacket on the floor. "Yo, Uno, Alice. What do you say? Want to duel me next? I finally put my deck together! It may not have come from a nice structure deck, but it sticks together!" Eric looked like he was holding everything back to not just grab the dueldisk and begin by himself. "Eric.. we're watching something." Alice pouted. They could duel any time, she thought. Uno did not agree with her however. "Nah that's okay. Eric wants a show? He gets a show!" Who was he to deny Eric? He didn't have that answer, so he was eager to duel again. Perhaps this time he would get more than a name.

"Hell yes!" Eric took one dueldisk and activated it. His cards were inserted, and so were Uno's. Meanwhile Alice moved to one of the chairs with Emily while the boys positioned themselves at the center of the living room. "What a coincidence that Eric shows up just after dad leaves." Emily muttered sarcastically. Eric did not want to get in trouble with their father again, more like it. "Well _I_ believe he wants to help.. too." Alice said in return. "Go get him Uno, or Eric!"

Bobs LP: 8000 Erics's LP: 8000

"Pfft. Can't get this thing to change my name. Well whatever." It wasn't a big problem. They knew his new name. "Heh. I rolled the first turn tho, Bob." Eric placed one of the monster cards in his hands face-down, and left it at that. "I'm gonna keep my deck a secret for a bit. Hope you are shaking with anticipation, Uno." The turn passed to Uno. "I cannot wait. I'm gonna unveil secrets of all sizes!" Uno normal summoned a monster. "Meet our latest performer; Performapal Sword Fish!" This was the gaudiest one yet; a blue fish(2/600/600) shaped like a sword. It wore pink shades and the bladed tip on its head resembled a pompadour. "After all, what is a show, without a sword dance?" Uno stretched his hand out towards Erics set card, and the Swordfish shot out like a torpedo. "Really? You don't want to summon anything bigger?" It was not the looks that surprised Eric, but the stats. The Swordfish impaled a threeheaded fire lizard made of metal(1/500/0). "Doesn't matter, the first damage is mine. Because you just killed Volcanic Scattershot!" Scattershot inflicted 500 damage to the opponent whenever it was sent to the graveyard.

Bobs LP: 7500

"Oof, fooled at the first move." Uno shook his head. "I should reward tricks with tricks." He placed two cards down behind Swordfish, in the spell/trap zone. "Your time to shine, Eric." Another turn had passed. "Yessss. At last." Eric wasted no time, he wanted to see the monstrous holograms. "I summon Volcanic Slicer, the Edge monster!" A new metallic reptile(4/1800/1200) appeared, this one featured more dinosaurian traits, and lacked eyes. The disk portrayed every detail. "Nice..Nice! I bet it looks even better when attacking!" Eric entered his battle phase now. "Slicer.. slice that fish into sushi!"

"Not so fast. Before you continue." Uno wagged his finger and flipped one of his set cards. It was a quickplay spell card. "I bring in these lovely ladies! I activate Hippo Carnival!" Three dancing hippos(1/0/0) of various colors marched unto the floor, getting in between the Swordfish and Slicer. "What.. is.. this?" Eric gasped. "Hippo Carnival creates three Hippo-tokens in defense mode. They draw in any attack declared until the end of this turn." Meaning Sword Fish could not be fought while the Hippos were dancing. "Oh and Sword Fish weakens your monsters whenever I roll in a new guest with a special summon." The summoned tokens triggered the Performapals effect. Sword Fish made it rain bladed fish, stabbing Slicer(1200/600) until it lost 600 of its attack and defense-points. "I cannot believe what I am seeing." Emily stared with wide eyes. This deck got goofier and goofier. "Hrgh. Then I wont waste my fire, Uno!" Eric struck a dramatic pose and he terminated the battle phase. "Since Slicer never actually attacked, he can inflict 500 damage points of damage with his effect!" The Volcanic beast fired a flame shot from its mouth. It flew right into Uno's head and disappeared into flame particle effects. "Good! I 'll set my trap card too, and end my turn!"

Bobs LP: 7000

"Any good duelist would defend their cast. Eric. However, you upped the stakes, so I will meet you halfway!" Uno began his next turn with another new performer, a Tiger warrior(4/1700/500) in colorful gear. "A double feature! Performapal Salutiger joins the fray!" The Tiger unsheathed his claws and 'sliced' through Volcanic Slicer. "And this next attack, is all for you!" Performapal Swordfish blasted off again, phasing right through Erics body like a bolt of thunder. "Here is where it gets good. Salutiger prepares the next act; when he destroys a monster, he adds a Performapal in my deck to my hand." A Performapal Hip Hippo was chosen by the Tiger. "The curtains close again, and the stage will be set for the major setpiece. There's chances for comedy or tragedy. Are you excited yet?"

Eric's LP: 6900

"I am excited, but not for the reason you might think.. Uno." Eric activated his trap card after he was done with his draw phase. "Here's my Continuous trap card: Blaze Accelerator Reload! With this I can discard a Volcanic card during a main phase." Eric sent a Volcanic Counter monster from his hand to the graveyard. "To draw one new card!" He pulled the next card with gusto, and his expression changed when he saw what he gained. "Now we're talking... Uno, my trap here has another effect. I can treat it as a 'Tri-Blaze Accelerator card. Do you know which monster demands a TriBlaze Accelerator as a sacrifice?" Eric placed his card from his hand on the board. The Blaze trap subsequently exploded, bursting wide open with infernal flames and black smoke. Two glowing eyes peered through the ashes. "I will special summon my ace; the Volcanic Devil!" A hellish horned demon(8/3000/1800) of black armor and red skin arose.

"Don't you mean Volcanic Doomfire?" Alice asked, right in the middle of its grand entrance.

"Hah?" Eric looked at the name written on his card. "N-no! That's just the lame censored name. Its real name if Volcanic Devil!" He protested vehemently. If there was a way to get the unedited version he would have. But he could only afford these. "They only did that to not upset kids. They don't need to worry about devils." She insisted. He just got more inflamed because of that. "I'm not a kid! I can say whatever I want and do what I want. Look!" The battle began, with its claws, the Devil tore Performapal Swordfish to pieces. "Look how strong he is!" The attack left a virtual blaze in its wake, one that trailed across Uno's field. "The Devil destroys every other monster when it attacks, and inflicts 500 points of damage for each destroyed card!" Salutiger and the Carnival hippos were consumed by the fire, and Uno lost 2000 lifepoints total by the effect. "Such a kickass monster shouldn't get such a lame name as _Doom_ fire. What does that even mean?"

Bobs LP: 2600

"Well I'm not a fan of censorship either, but you gotta admit." Uno all the while maintained his cool, and flipped a set trap card. "We can use some levity now and then. I activate Performapal Revival. When a monster is destroyed, a Performapal can be summoned from the hand..or graveyard." The fire dissipated and Performapal Swordfish bounced back to life. "What?" Immediately Erics monster was struck with a dozen swords, again. "Oh, Swordfish also decreases stats whenever _he_ is summoned." The Volcanic Devil(2400/1200) was suitably weak now. "Grr.. Frigging.. I cant let my card lose to something like that!" Eric placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "I wouldn't dream of it." Uno's turn began. He summoned the Performapal Hip Hippo that waited in his hand. "I made a promise, Eric. What kind of entertainer am I, if I fail to live up to them?" With Hip Hippo's effect now employed, a level 7 monster could be tribute summoned in this turn. "I tribute you, Swordfish and Hip Hippo, to call out Odd-Eyes Dragon!" The performers retreated into the grave, and the showstopper returned once more. The odd-eyed red dragon(7/2500/2000) stomped down in the room. "Here we go!" And with its charged up breath it challenged the Volcanic Devil, attacking it continuously. "Trap card!" Eric revealed his set card now. He had to. "Impenetrable Attack! This trap can protect my monster from destruction!" The dragons attack did damage, but not fatal damage. Volcanic Doomfire's impenetrable skin endured.

Bobs LP: 2400 Eric's LP: 6700

"Wait, is this thing glitched? I shouldn't have lost that much life." Eric lost twice as much as normal. "I lost life too for some reason." Uno wondered why some of the clashing flames had touched him. "Oh that was just Volcanic Counters doing. That monster I discarded." Volcanic Counter reflected battle damage to both players, by banishing itself as soon as a battle took place. Eric wanted to use it for a bigger hit, but no such luck. That still did not explain why the damage had been doubled. "Maybe..it is not the same dragon?" Emily interjected, pointing at the monster. Its horns and wings looked bigger than the ones from the dragon that Alice faced. "Yeah, you're right. It even has a different effect." Uno inspected the card closer. Before he had not spotted a difference at all. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon? It doubles any damage when it fights other monsters?" What was this all about? Why did he have two of these dragons. "This looks odd.. pun not intended." Uno thought about this while he ended his turn.

"Last time, something happened when your dragon went down. Maybe I should try that too." Eric began to formulate a new strategy in his head, now that he remembered the point of this battle. "My turn! I summon a Watchdog!" A guard dog(1/0/0) with fire-red fur sat down in the shadow of the Volcanic demon. "I enter my battlephase and skip it!" Eric discarded a Wild Fire spell-card. "During the 2nd main phase Watchdog can throw a spell out of my hand, to set a continuous spell directly from my deck! I set Blaze Accelator.. I mean Cannon!" Eric's deck forced out the tripod flame cannon, and Eric flipped it face-up the next instant. "I have the weapon, now I need the ammo. Time to banish Blaze Accelerator Reload from my cemetery! That trap can burn its remains to incinerate a Volcanic monster in my deck!" The removal of the Reloader, forced a Volcanic Shell into the graveyard. "That's one part down. Next, I'll banish Volcanic Shell from the graveyard and pay 500 lifepoints. That way Volcanic Shell can add a second Volcanic Shell from the deck to my hand." He did just that.

Erics LP: 6200

"Here comes the shot! Blaze Accelerator can destroy a monster, by consuming up a fire-monster with 500 attackpoints or less." Volcanic Shell, with its 100 attackpoints, was a perfect bullet. Eric pushed it into the grave-slot and unleashed the destructive power of the Accelerator spell. "!" The cannon shot a hole straight through the torso of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "The odds are back in my favor! While I have Volcanic Devil, you cannot attack any other monsters. So my Watchdog is safe!" He looked at Uno for a reaction, as he placed another trap card down and ended his turn. "Uno?" Alice and Emily were similarly focused on the man. He'd gone quiet, just like the last time. "Uno, say something. If you.." Only Emily perceived Uno's changing expressions. There was a fraction of a second, where he looked absolutely horrified. But only for that fraction.

The next second, a blast of radiance escaped the pendant, shooting down into the ground where once the dragon had been. "Who-oah!" That energy turned around and fired into the extra deck of Uno's disk. The light was brighter than the last time. The glow flooded the room, becoming visible from the outside. "Aha! Now I know how to do it!" Uno shouted, and he balled his hand into a fist. "It's all so clear.. It's a Pendulum! They're Pendulum monsters.." He raised his dueldisk to the front and pushed a button on the side. Two more slots were displayed on the blade; one blue and one red. "What is..that? More zones?" A normal field only had five zones for monsters, now there were seven. "The left scale: Stargazer Magician!" In the blue zone, a fifth-level monster was placed. Except it was not summoned, it was activated. "The right scale: Timegazer magician!" In the red zone a third-level magician appeared. "Scales 1 and 8!" Two more beams of light were cast. The magicians hovered inside while the numbers 1 and 8 were carved in energy above their heads. "I can now pendulum summon! Join the stage Odd-Eyes and Performapals!"

...

Another room, another part of the world. There was a connection, a link displayed on a screen. Of all the screens in this monitor room, only this one mattered right now. "Sir Creffield. You might want to take a look at this." The keeper of this station called out to his superior. "That's what I am here for. If it's something special, you should try being more descriptive." The superior walked up to the man in the chair, his voice carried a light pleasant tone. Still his coworker was nervous. "Oh, of course. My apologies. Then.. that is to say, today the scanner caught strange spikes on the dueling network. The energy expenditures were off the charts. If they had happened just once, I would have written it off as a software error. But it happened again just now, stronger this time." He pointed at a spike in the graphs on the screen. "Something happened in a duel, that should not have happened. We cannot analyze it, it matches no previous readings." 'Creffield' took a closer look at the screen, at the unusual charts. "I don't recognize it either. But the Master might have an idea.."

"Do you have the coordinates?"

(To be Continued in Annex 003: The Theater comes to Town)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Sword Fish  
Performapal Salutiger  
Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon  
Timegazer Magician  
Stargazer Magician  
Performapal Cheermole

-  
Hippo Carnival

-  
Performapal Revival

 **Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Volcanic Scattershot  
Volcanic Slicer  
Volcanic Doomfire  
Volcanic Counter  
Watchdog  
Volcanic Shell

-  
Blaze Accelerator

-  
Blaze Accelerator Reload  
Impenetrable Attack


	3. The Theater comes to Town

**Annex 003: The Theater comes to Town**

Bobs LP: 2400 Eric's LP: 6200

"How the hell did you do that?" Nothing added up here; from the monsters that acted like spells to the return of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000). Uno had summoned three monsters in one turn. The dragon was flanked on both sides by Performapals, a pink mole(2/600/1000) in a cheerleaders outfit and Whip Snake(4/1700/900). "I remembered what my deck was meant to do. This is Pendulum summon." Uno pointed to both ends of his field, to the pillars of light. Stargazer the white magician and Timegazer the darkred magician. "The Gazers are pendulum monsters; half monster/half-spell. I can summon them to use their monster effects or activate them as spells in their very own pendulum zones." The Magicians had a number printed besides their spell effect text, a blue and red scale. "Stargazer on the left has a scale of 1, Timegazer on the right has a scale of 8. When I control two scales, I can Pendulum Summon monsters as long as their levels lie between the scales." He had summoned monsters from the 2nd to the 7th level.

"So a special summon then?" Emily was beginning to understand. Uno nodded. "Okay, then why is the dragon back? I killed it" Eric could accept summoning cards from the hand, but reviving monsters at the same time was too broken. "Because it never died. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is a Pendulum monster as well. When a Pendulum monster on the field dies, it is not sent to the grave but to the extra deck. There it waits in face-up position. You see, a Pendulum summon can also resummon any Pendulum monster _in_ the extra deck." Uno directed his finger towards Eric. "That was the exposition, now for the action!" Performapal Whip Snake activated its effect. Volcanic Doomfire(8/2400/1200) was hypnotized by the serpent, and its(1200/2400) defense and attackpoints were switched around. "Newcomer Performapal Cheermole, show them your dance!" The mole did her own routine, waving her pompons. This motion made the lava devil(200/2400) even more drowsy. "Cheermole can give or take away 1000 attackpoints, to a monster who already had its points messed with!"

"Guh." Erics mighty devil was as helpless as a baby now. Especially in front of this Pendulum dragon. "I 'm glad for your participation, Eric! But the show has reached the climax! Odd-Eyed, attack the Volcanic Devil!" The orbs on the dragons wingspiked began to gather energy and power. "Oh no. There is still room for one surprise! I will not lose now!" Desperate, Eric moved his hand over his trap card. "I am gonna.. gonna..why isn't it working?" But try as he might, he could not reverse the card. "Sorry, Eric. I kept one trick in reserve! The gazer magicians have effects while they are spell cards too! When Timegazer Magician is set as a scale, my opponent cannot activate trap cards during a Pendulum monsters attack!" Uno said, just before his words were drowned out by the furious blast from the Pendulum Dragon. "No!" Volcanic Doomfire did not survive the forceful attack, it was returned to the earth. "And.." Eric took the 2300 points of battle damage twice over, due to the effect of Odd-Eyed Pendulum Dragon.

Eric's LP: 1600

"My pals, have a taste of success!" The decisive blows were given. Performapal Cheermole buried Erics Watchdog(1/0/0) under her pompons and the Whip Snake slapped Erics lifepoints away with his heart-tipped tail. "Aaand that's a wrap!"

Eric's LP: 0

"What did you...that was.." The duel had finally wound down, all holograms created by the disk faded. "That was amazing!" Alice yelled and started clapping. This topped everything she had seen today already. "Uh.. yeah." A slightly dazed Emily said. The spectacle of it all outweighed the fact that she'd barely followed the moves he made. "Duels look like this now?" Needless to say, this was the first Pendulum summon any of them had ever witnessed. "You.." Then there was Eric, the one who had to suffer the power directly. "Uno, you showed me something. I thought I was good before. I was wrong as hell. No wonder I couldn't win!" Two emotions burned inside; rage.. and desire. "Teach me how to do it. I want it! I want to do the things you can do! A power like that can take the tournament scene like a storm!" His eyes gave his passions away. He was not looking at the present anymore, but at a future filled with glory. "Ah, well. There is a problem. I know how to use these cards, not where I got them from. I don't have any more than what I got."

"Emily, Alice! Is everything okay in here?"

Before the matter could discussed any further, Mr. Brandt entered the house, looking like he had run from a stampede. "Dad? Oh.. you saw the.." Emily could imagine what got him this spooked. "The light that came through the windows? Of course I did. The whole town did." Apparently Uno's lightshow had been catching a lot of attention. "Eric, what were you doing?" James picked a few pieces of the puzzle right there; Erics presence and the dueldisks that were being worn. "Don't blame the guy. I was the one who started the duel. I don't think we had any collateral damage." It was not as if holograms could physically interact with objects, the living room was still the same. "And I feel more awake now. I'm getting the hang of this." That vibe that ran through Uno's body throughout the duel; that was the power of admiration. To dazzle the audience, to shock them. That filled him with joy. He could forget his own forgetfulness in such times.

"You look it. But there is a limit to how much excitement people should get for one day." Brandt pointed out the time on the clock. The eleventh hour was fast approaching. "That's not that late! This is summer, we can stay up as long as we want!" Eric protested. Mostly because he wanted to duel Uno again. "That's not really up to me, Eric. I do not mind that you come to visit but I spoke with your mother. She told me in no uncertain terms that I had to make sure you got back home." He stared at him. "Oh she said that? Ergh. Gotta go." Eric did not need to be told twice. "See ya tomorrow!" He vanished out the door. "He left his coat.." Emily sighed after a brief period of silence.

"You spoke with Mrs Stonewell? Did you ask her too? Did it help, did anyone say anything?" Alice had a hopeful look on her face, while her father did not. "I am sorry.. Uno. I asked everyone. Nobody heard of your name, or seen your face before. The local police hasn't heard any reported missing persons either. You're probably not from around here. Another reason to take you to the city, they'll know more." If the hospital could not cure his amnesia, perhaps city hall could find some records on the man. These days almost everyone's ID was stored somewhere. "Thanks, James. I trust it will work. I mean, I am pretty recognizable!" Uno put his red shades on. He was sure that he had left an impression somewhere. "Who knows, maybe people have been looking for you too." Emily suggested. "Of course they are. He has got to have a family." Alice claimed rather intensely. "..You will find them, or they will find you. That has to happen.. nobody should be without a family."

"Alright, alright, settle down. We'll continue this in the morning. Now you should go to bed, okay?" Dad was putting his foot down. "Okay, dad." After all, no work would get done this late in the day.

...

That same night, in a tall building far from the town, a Master and his two Disciples had a report to discuss. "So they ran every check possible. Whatever caused the distortion, it happened during a duel, to one players extra deck. The first time it was only there for a few seconds, the second time it lasted long enough to scramble the records. None of our divisions have experienced a malfunction of this type before. Since both disks were set to private, we cannot check the duel log. But we can confirm that it wasn't a Fusion, Synchro or XYZ-summon. That was to be expected, as there are no Guild bases in that region." Creffield did his best to explain the situation to his boss as he sat in his swivel-chair, looking over the printouts. "That is a rather poor excuse for them to give up and pass it over to us." The other disciple scoffed. She made it very clear that she was displeased with the results. "There is an explanation for everything. They simply have not tried hard enough."

"Exactly, Silver. There is an explanation." The man in the chair spoke up. There was a strange echo to his voice. "These types of readings are consistent with something that we have been working on." He explained, to the surprise of Creffield. "Sir?" This was the first he heard of that. "Not gonna spoil it yet, Creffield. But I will say that this duelist, whoever he is, shouldn't have been able to get his hands on the cards he played." The master snapped his finger. "Send someone over there, pronto. This demands immediate attention." He claimed. "Yes sir, I will go myself." Creffield got up immediately. "It would be better to send some of the troops, Creffield. It would take you all night to cross that distance." Ms. Silver favored a quicker approach. "And scare the people? Nonsense. Some things you just have to do yourself."

...

The darkest hours came and Uno was vast asleep. Brandt gave him the couch for the night, which was more than adequate. It was no kingsize bed, but as soon as he lied down his body realized how tired it was and he rapidly drifted away into unconsciousness. Uno planned to stay in his dreams for a long long time. The first few moments were pleasant visions. He got images of the people he met, and duels he performed in front of them. It was nice, but he wanted more. He got his wish; an eternity condensed into one flash. A second later, his eyes opened. "..." Uno looked around as if he expected to be somewhere else, to be someone else. He wasn't. _"C'mon."_ Too early, he needed more sleep. Unfortunately his body fought back. All the tossing and turning in the world could not get help him get tired again. He was awake in the dark room, alone with his thoughts. _"No.. don't think about it.."_ Uno had seen something in that dream and he could not pretend that it had been just a dream. He'd been running, from four shadows, and he felt as if there were still chasing him in the real world. Uno clutched the jewel around his neck and took a deep breath. "Ugh." He got up and walked out the room, past the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

He did not get to make another step. Emily? You're up?" How late was it now? He had hoped to avoid being seen. "I heard you make a noise downstairs. I'm a light sleeper.. Now answer my question." She did not sound happy with him. "...I just needed some fresh air. I couldn't sleep." Uno 'answered'. A half-truth was better than a full lie. "Then why are you taking that with you?" It would have helped the lie, if Uno had not strapped the dueldisk to his wrist. "...It feels nice?" His responses started to lose confidence. "...You saw something else, didn't you? When you did that thing with the pendulum." Anyone could see through the lie now, Uno was aiming to leave. Emily could only guess why. "I do not know what I saw." Uno finally told the truth, as best as he could. "I just know, that something wants what I have.. my pendulum. I can sense it. I tried to ignore it and pretend it wasn't there. No luck." Somebody would probably find it funny; how the memories he wanted were things he did not want to know. "I think I should go before everyone wakes up. I can't make a show of me leaving."

"You think we cannot help you? That we do not want to help you? Alice would.. " Emily nearly forget herself and stopped mid-sentence before she got too loud. This gave Uno a chance to speak. "The last thing I want is to see people get hurt. If I stay, that is what will happen." It was not as if he could tell her what scared him, he only had vague premonitions "I am glad for what you all did. You can have the other disk as a gift. But that is all I can do. I will find the city on my own." Uno was not that helpless. He knew the way by now, just from the tour he had taken earlier. You could not get lost in this town anyway. "You do not know.. Tch." Emily saw now that she could not stop him with her words. "Are you going to try and stop me?" Uno would not be surprise if she tried to pin him down though. The girl was tough. "No. I don't want to hurt you. Alice wouldn't want me to. Just go now..don't let her or dad see you. They're worse at goodbyes." If this was for the best, then it had to be done quickly. "Oh and look out for anyone associated with the guilds." She warned him. "Guilds?" Uno had not heard of them before. "They're part of the dueling organization. Sort of like elite clubs. If they know what you can do, they will not leave you alone." That was all the advice she could give him. "Thanks, Emily Brandt. I will not forget it... I hope." He bowed and headed outside. He did not see her again as the door closed behind him...

He did not see Alice looking down at him through the curtains of her room either.

...

"Emily! Emily! Uno's gone! Did you see him!?" Alice's cries could be heard early the next morning. She rushed into her sisters room as if she expected Emily to have all the answers. Mostly because their father was impossible to wake up in the early hours Emily was not getting much sleep today. "Ergh. Course not. Maybe he just woke up early and took a walk?" Now it was Emily's turn to lie. "Or he suddenly remembered something and he had to go check it? It could be that he had to leave.." Alice was not someone you could give bad news straight away. Even if you did, she had her way of denying it. "He wouldn't leave without saying goodbye! That'd just be rude." Alice said with a surly face. "He left his dueldisk here, he is gonna come back for it. I am sure!" As if to emphasize her optimistic viewpoint, the sound of the doorbell followed her words. "See!? That's probably him!" Alice walked out of the room and down the stairs, as the doorbell kept ringing. _"How does she get that much energy at his hour?"_ Emily sighed. She had her doubts about Uno returning as well. But who else could it be?

"I'm getting it! Don't worry!" Alice managed to open the door. "Oh.." Her smile vanished. It was not Uno. It was another man flanked by two bodyguards. "I beg your pardon, little miss. But the melody of your doorbell was just so charming that I had to hear it a few more times." The one who spoke was dressed in formal black attire, and his light brown hair was slicked back. It was as far as one could get from Uno's haphazard appearance. His peculiar accent gave away that he was not just any man. "No problem. Can I help you?" Still, he looked and sounded friendly. "Ah, straight to the point. I like that. I will introduce myself first." He flipped a card out of his pocket. "The name is Zachariah Creffield; Zach, if you prefer. I represent DreamWorld Technologies. Have you heard of us?" Alice took the card and nodded her head. "Of course. You're the guys who make dueling cards." Which duelist hadn't heard of them? "Good. Then you might already guess what this is about. I will be frank. I am doing a survey of the area. Our tech department picked up a strange signal on the dueling network and traced it to this area. Would you know anything about it?"

"Not that we can say." Emily, now properly dressed, came into frame. She still looked quite exhausted. "Ah. Good morning miss. I hope I did not wake you. I was just doing the rounds. I don't mean to be a bother, but may I come inside?" He waited patiently, but he was not deterred by Emily's response. "Why? We already told you.." She was not budging either. Recalling Uno's words, she could not instantly trust this guy. "I'm sure its fine, Emily. Come in." Alice on the other hand readily moved out of his way. "Thank you. I wont be long." Zach made the two bodyguards stand watch outside the door. "Well, what a lovely house you have here." Zach moved in. "I just need to check something. The unusual signal came from an unregistered dueldisk." He raised his arm and a sleek blade of plastic slide out of his sleeve. It was his dueldisk, a green colored model with a curved disc. "My disk tells me the only other disk in town could be found right here. That is why my search began at your doorstep.".

"A dueldisk.." Emily muttered. This was everything but fantastic. This guy knew very well what he was after, but they could not hide it from him now. "Yeah we have one." It would be better to play along. The disk that Uno had left behind lied on the kitchen counter. "Ah. That'd be the one. Is it yours?" He moved towards her. "Yes." Emily instinctively held it close to her chest. She was not going to just hand it over to him. Zach in turn backed away. "Oh. Don't misunderstand me, I just wanted to analyze it. If it is yours, it should stay yours. I am just curious how a duel can take place with just one disk." He inquired, looking at both girls for a reaction. "Uh.. we." Alice did not want to mention Uno, but she couldn't think of a good lie either. "It's not what you are looking for. We haven't dueled with this. You should look somewhere else." Emily had her own solution, she did not want to sell out Uno either. She would force this man away if she had to. "There are many ways we can be doing this, you should know. The easy way would be to let me inspect that device. The hard way would be connect to it in a duel." Zach had not retracted his disk yet for a reason.

"Is that all? The hard way is fine with me." Emily shouted. "Emily?" Alice flinched. "Is this a fight?" The scene suddenlt got very tense. "Alice, stay back. If this guy wants a duel." She grabbed a pack of cards. "He can have it."

(To be Continued in Annex 004: Maid of Iron)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Cheermole


	4. Maid of Iron

**Annex 004: Maid of Iron**

Emily's LP: 8000 Zach's LP: 8000

"A duel it is then." Zach seemed rather jovial about being challenged. He did not even call in his bodyguards. "If you are innocent like you claim to be, this test will prove that. And it will provide some entertainment in the mean time. I will leave it to you to decide the turn order" He added five cards to his hand and waited for her response. "In that case." Emily showed Zach her choice, by placing one of her monster cards and one of her trap cards face-down. "Ah." The rest of her cards went unused, she ended her turn. "Now you don't have to be shy with your cards. I cannot analyze your disks output." Zach took his turn and summoned a Shining Angel(4/1400/800), the blonde angel with goldfeathered wings. "Not until I win that is. ... Pardon. I should say 'if I win'." The Shining Angel flew forwards and hit Emily's facedown monster with its fist. "Oh no!" Alice cried out, thinking that her sister would start losing monsters already. "What?" It was not to be. The angel retracted his hand after it injured itself against the red-steel body of a mechanical samurai(3/1000/1800).

Zach's LP: 7800

"Yeah, you should say that." Emily smirked. "Or did you expect to run into a chump? Fraid not." The samurai struck back with its pulverizing claw and slammed the angel into the ground, weakening the shining one(0/800). "So that's how it is, Superheavy Samurais." Zach of course knew this card, he had been there when it was first printed. "Superheavy Samurai Swordsman. When I do battle with it, my attacking monster loses all its attackpoints." He would have been better off not attacking at all. "Very well, you got me that time." Zach placed a spell card down and ended his turn. "You can do it, Em! You have the cooler monsters!" Alice shouted from the sidelines, completely drawn in by the spectacle. "Sure do'" Emily drew her card. "I activate Spikeshield with Chain, a trap card that I can equip on my monster to give it 500 attackpoints." Exactly as written on the tin, the heavy swordsman(1500/1800) gained a new spiked shield connected to a chain. "Then I switch him to attack position and I attack!" Her swordsman used the drill chain to pierce through Shining Angel and destroy it.

Zach's LP: 6300

"Owch. I don't see a combo like that often." Zach said. "Would it be wrong of me to assume that your Superheavy Samurai deck is incomplete?" A normal superheavy deck did not include random power-up traps like this. It looked like Emily was just filling in gaps. "What if I am?" Emily did not see the point of talking about it. "I could get you those missing cards, as a compensation for your troubles. I can sense talent in a person, and you have it in spades. Dreamworld would hate to see it go to waste." He made it sound like it was very easy to do. "I don't see why I'd need more cards." Emily shrugged. "Well you can take it from me. These days, you need a certain power to back your skill." Zach searched through his deck. "Let me show you what I mean. When you destroyed Shining Angel, its effect was triggered. It'll summon a new fairy-type from my deck, with 1500 attackpoints or less." The deck released a card, a singing diva(4/1400/2000).

"Oooh. She's pretty." Alice liked the way she looked, with her flowing dress and her golden butterfly mask. "...And different." Emily placed a monster down again and ended her turn. "Right you are, miss. She is part of my ensemble, Canon of the Melodious Divas. She has a very handy summoning condition. I can summon her when I already control a Melodious monster. Ergo..." When the time came for his main phase, Zach special summoned a second Melodious Diva Canon(4/1400/2000), from his hand. "I can call her sister." He then picked up both cards. "And now..." Zach took both ladies Canon away, tributing them. "I will normal summon Melodious Maestra Mozarta!" A much taller angel was tribute summoned; Mozarta the musical master(8/2600/2000) with a red dress and wide pixie wings. "Your ace monster, I reckon."

"Very much so. Mozarta is the conductor of the concert. Her ability summons an angel, or fairy-type if you prefer, once a turn." As the Maestra waved her baton to direct the Divas, she special summoned yet another monster from Zach's hand. "Elegy the Melodious Diva! Her song grants 300 attackpoints to all Melodious angels when she is special summoned!" This time it was a one-winged green-haired songstress(4/2000/1200) with a music-note mask on her right eye. When she started singing, both her(2300/1200) and her Maestra(2900/2000)'s attackpoints were raised. "We're almost there, we need one more voice!" Zach activated a spell card. "Celestial Transformation! I special summon a light-attribute monster from my hand, with its attackpoints halved." The Celestial spell gave life to a purple-haired masked diva(4/800/1200). "Aria the Melodious Diva!" The powered down Aria(1100/1200) was strengthened again by Elegy's lament. Now all three joined their voices as one. "This is the kind of of power I was referring to, miss Brandt. I will attack you and your machines!" The sounds of Elegy crushed Superheavy Samurai Swordsmans body, while Aria's melody destroyed Emily's facedown samurai(1/0/500). Mozarta struck the duelist herself with an overpowering soundburst. "Eeesh.."

Emily's LP: 4600

"Em! Did it hurt?" Alice asked loudly. "Nah. It's just noisy.." Emily never had to endure an attack before. Holograms could not touch her, but they could shout at her. "Alice, you may have to.." Emily was starting to think that her victory was not guaranteed, which meant.. "I.. I'll do it!" Alice knew what Emily was really asking of her. She ran upstairs. "Oh dear. I hope I did not upset her." Zach said all apologetically. "Alice will be fine." Emily had been given her turn by now. She would have to stall for a bit to give Alice time. "Now.. you're strong, obviously. But I think you should see how strong I am too." Then again, Emily could also just fight back harder. Even if Zach was the politest guy on the planet, she could not let Uno get in trouble. _"I just had to be nice today..."_

"My turn! Since I have no monsters I get to special summon Superheavy Samurai Scales from my hand!" Her next machine warrior was a green samurai(4/800/1800) carrying a heavy scale on its back. "Now that Scales is special summoned, it can bring another Samurai back to life!" The scales were tilted to the left, the Samurai special summoned the Superheavy Swordsman(3/1000/1800) back in attack position. "I have two tributes too. Can you guess where this is going?" Emily cracked her knuckles and grabbed another card from her hand. "I summon Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei!" Scales and Swordsman were sacrificed to tribute summon something greater then the two of them combined. Big Benkei(8/1000/3500) was a large mechanical monk in white/orange and darkblue samurai armor. Steam erupted from the vents on its back. "Big Benkei can switch to defense position when he is summoned" The Samurai sat down on the floor, to rest it seemed. "But he also can attack while in defense position, with his defense points!" Big Benkei took the bladed flute from his back and swept it from one side of the room to the other. Melodious Diva Elegy(0/1200) was caught by the sweep and slammed against the wall.

Zach's LP: 2800

"Oof. That's right. Elegy's attackpoints were taken way when she fought with your Swordsman. Fortunately.." When Benkei retracted his weapon from the wall, Elegy emerged unharmed. "What!?" Emily winced. That attack definitely should've destroyed her. "Oh I am sorry. Of course you do not know the effects of my Aria and Elegy combination. When Aria is special summoned, Melodious monsters cannot be destroyed as a result of battle. Nor can they be targeted by effects." Elegy flew back to Aria's side. "Elegy's effect meanwhile makes it so that no Melodious angel can be destroyed by card effects. In laymans terms, my musicians cannot die. I should have told you that last turn." The Celestial Transformation spell card normally destroyed the monsters it summoned during the endphase. Thanks to Elegy, Aria was spared from this effect. "Still, I didn't expect to run into Big Benkei. You have the Samurai's key card at least. The Divas cannot get through that defense, but there are ways to get around him."

...

"D.. Dad! Wake up!" After a few unsuccesful attempts at shaking him up, Alice had finally disrupted Mr. Brandts sweet dreams. "Alice? What's the matter?" Though only barely awake, he could tell that his daughter was in distress. "We need to tell Uno. He left already. Someone is here..." It was difficult to deliver the news, when she did not really understand what was going on down below. "Uno is gone? And someone else is here inside the house? Where is Emily?" Hearing this got James properly conscious. "In the living room, dueling a man from the company. She won't be hurt.. I think. But if she loses.. we have to warn Uno somehow!"

...

The two duelists were at a stalemate for a while. Emily had nothing that could get rid of the Melodious monsters, and Zach had nothing to kill Benkei with yet. In his turn the disciple just switched his angels to defense mode. Emily simply passed her turn. On Zachs next turn though, things changed. "Now here's some wonderful timing. Emily, Mozarta can summon more than just my Melodical angels. Example, I summon Athena in defense position!" Mozarta reached for the ceiling, creating a pillar of heavenly light. A Goddess of wisdom(7/2600/800) flew down the carved path. "Athena can tribute one angel to revive one from the afterlife." Athena selected Mozarta for her effect, sending the Maestra to the graveyard, only for her to target Mozarta afterwards and bring her back out all over again, also in defense position. "She can even special summon those that were sent?" Emily grumbled. That did not seem right, yet it was. "And if a fairy is special summoned while Athena oversees the field.. she inflicts 600 points of damage to my opponents lifepoints." Athena channeled some of Mozarta's glowing energy into her own staff, and released the power at Emily. The holy bolt flew right above Benkei's head and hit her. "Going for Effect damage?"

Emily's LP: 4000

"Another great thing is this; Mozarta already used her ability and left the field afterwards. The Mozarta on the field now is treated as a new being who has yet to use her effect." Once again the master of the melody performed her magic, summoning a second Shining Angel(4/1400/800) in defense position. "I get the picture." Of course Athena's effect had no limits. With another fairy special summoned, so another volley of 600 lifepoints came from the Goddess and her staff., zapping Emily. "As for the rest." Zach placed a trap card down. "I hope I am making my case clear. This is how strong you could be too."

Emily's LP: 3400

"This is not about that. We just want to be left alone. You wont change my mind just by offering me treats!" In her turn, Emily activated a monster effect from her hand. "Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall!" She skipped the details, Zach would know the effect. Soulshield Wall was a samurai that could equip itself to another Superheavy Samurai, like Big Benkei. By fastening that green plate of armor to its own, the Big Samurai(1000/4700) gained 1200 defense points. "I know what I need to do. Your Goddess is not a Melodious monster, she aint protected by Aria _or_ Elegy." Athena had to be destroyed before she could do more damage. "Big Benkei, you have your target!" Her mighty warrior prepared his weapon for another strike. "Then, I must spring my trap before it is too late." Acting against his opponent, Zach activated the set card; Solar Ray. "My trap will gather the solar energy of all light beings under my control; 600 points for each single monster." With five light-attribute fairies on his field, the damage would climb up to 3000 points. "I am attacking anyway!" While the Solar rays bombarded the area around Emily, Samurai Big Benkei pushed through the explosions and crushed the goddess Athena decisively. "I set a trap card. That was my turn."

Emily's LP: 400

"Emily. Let's clear the air. I am quite sure that you are hiding something or someone. That is not your dueldisk.." It did not take a genius to figure out that someone like her could not afford a device like that. "I can think of many reasons you would want to do it, I can certainly admire such nobility. But you do not have the full story." He switched his Melodious monsters back to attack position; not a good omen. "Do you?" Emily remained steadfast and still. Even if she only met Uno yesterday, she knew a lot more about him than this guy or the company he worked for. "I will, soon. No matter how much defense you put up, it only takes one weak spot to break it open." Zach activated a field spell card. "Ancient Forest.." Zach's holographic emitter covered the entire room, making it look as if they were in a thick forest, surrounded by immense trees. "Ack." The effect of the ancient spell forced Big Benkei into attack position. "No monsters can defend in the Ancient Forest. And they are destroyed if they attack.. of course, that last clause is undone by the Diva Elegy." Zach smiled. "I attack with Mozarta!" The melodious master opened with her final song of destruction.

"No!" Emily countered the attack with a monster effect. "I can unequip Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall from my monster, to negate an attack made against it, and reduce that monsters defense to zero!" The wall came loose and absorbed the impact of Mozarta's soundblast. In return, Big Benkei(1000/0)'s armor was stripped down to nothing. "That only stopped one attack, Emily." Zach was one move away from ordering his second and fatal attack with Elegy. "Negate Attack!" But Emily was one step ahead. She flipped her counter trap to negate the second attack and end the battle phase. "What? You..had a trap like that? Then why use Soulsield.. Oh!" Zach realized why Emily activated Soulshield Wall to begin with, when he scanned her graveyard. "Ayup. The monster you had Aria destroy a few turns ago, that was Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker Armor." The writing was on the wall. By banishing itself, Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker would damage Zach for each point of difference between Benkei's original defense and current defense. That was 3500 lifepoints lost right there. "You played me like a fiddle." He would have been fine if he hadn't attacked. His own confidence was his undoing. "Then it is my loss." He accepted it with dignity, he ended his turn. "It is." Emily activated the effect of Soulbreaker, and released the effect damage on Zach.

Zach's LP: 0

"I guess I will not be taking your disk then." Zach shook his head. He had come here all for nothing. "?! What is.." Though, for reasons beyond his knowledge, his dueldisk was not shutting down. "What did you do?" Emily's disk was the same. It refused to be switched off. "I didn't do anything, someone else connected to me and registered you on the net. I only know one person who would do this."

...

It dawned on Uno, only once he was halfway down the road on the hill, that he had no clue what he was going to do in the city. He had no money or ID. He could have asked for some from the Brandts, but that would have been rude. Perhaps instead he would just act it off, if he reached the hospital. They wouldn't be so hard on a man with amnesia right? But then what? What if going to the hospital would alert whoever was trying to find him? _"See, this is why you need an audience Uno-boy. You start getting too many thoughts without someone to bounce off of.."_ He felt lonely. Just how much longer did he have to walk this path? What he could really use right now was a car to hitch a ride with. "Oh, speak of the devil." It must have been his lucky day, as a pickup truck was driving down the street right now. "Shoulda wished for a million dollars instead. Hey!" He called out to the car. "I.. huh? It's you guys?"

"Uno, there you are!" Alice and her father were inside the vehicle. They managed to sneak away while Zach was preoccupied with the duel. "How did you find me?" Uno was surprised, relieved as well. "I.. saw you. I saw which way you went." Alice confessed. Once you left town there were really only two paths to travel anyway. Catching up was only a matter of time. "Why did you go, Uno?" The she asked him that definitely made him feel like a heel. "Sorry. I didn't want to get you in trouble. I only remembered this last night; people are after me and I don't know who or why." There was no reason to keep it a secret any longer. "Trouble has already shown up. One of those 'people' is dueling my girl right now!" Brandt growled. He knew it likely wasn't Uno's fault, but this was still a mess he did not want his family to be involved in. He wouldn't even be here if Alice had not begged him to warn Uno. "What? Then we have to get back there!" Whatever he felt before was gone, now Uno could only think about helping out. "That is the last thing you should.."

"No need. We can settle it all here."

A cold austere voice intruded. "What the?" They were the only three people on the road, Brandt did not see anyone else. "It's your disk!" Alice did see some _thing_ else. Uno's dueldisk was shimmering. "Mine?" It had turned itself on. Uno hadn't touched it. The device was creating a hologram and it was not a monster. The image of a tall slender woman was projected on the pavement. She wore formal clothes like Zach did, and had mediumlength black hair that was tied up in a topknot. "So it is you." She could see them apparently, her eyes stared straight into Uno's soul it felt like. "Who are you? How did you pull this trick of?" Uno dared to ask. "My name is Iria Silver, Disciple of Dreamworld Technologies. Some of you have met my associate already." She said with a sneer. "What I 'pulled off' was not a trick. When Creffield engaged one of the rogue dueldisks in combat, it was connected to the main network. Yours is remotely linked as well now, because it dueled against the other disk before."

"So let us talk, Bob, about those pendulum cards. Or should I call you thief? That _is_ what you are."

(To be Continued in Annex 005: When Adventure Calls)

 **Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Swordsman  
Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker Armor  
Superheavy Samurai Scales  
Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei  
Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall

-  
Spikeshield with Chain  
Negate Attack

 **Cards used by Zach Creffield  
** Shining Angel  
Canon the Melodious Diva  
Mozarta the Melodious Maestra  
Elegy the Melodious Diva  
Aria the Melodious Diva  
Athena

-  
Celestial Transformation  
Ancient Forest

-  
Solar Ray


	5. When Adventure Calls

**Annex 005: When Adventure Calls**

"The cards? You know about them?" Uno did not expect this so soon. This woman was confronting him with information few would have. He had to be careful not to give her more. "We know about every card that exists, thief. That includes your performapals, your odd-eyed dragons and your magicians." But Iria Silver already had already completely assessed Uno's deck. "What else?" She could actually be the one to give Uno the answers he wanted. "I am asking the questions here. You have in your hands an unlicensed dueldisk, and cards that were never brought to the market. The records on this disk confirm it. Explain to me how you got a hold of them."

"You don't scare us!" Alice suddenly jumped in. "Let's see you talk like this!" She waved her hand through the womans projected image, distorting her shape. "Do not play with what you do not understand, child." Iria's voice still came through though, and soon so did the rest."Ah!.." Alice was pushed bac by the repaired form of the virtual Iria. "Ow! How did you do that?" That was not just any old shock, the dueldisk had built an electric barrier around itself. It was manipulating energy. "There is no negotiation. You will talk. If your answers do not satisfy.." More beams of energy came from the dueldisk, erecting four walls around the three. "I will be forced to call upon local authorities." They could not get at the dueldisk or away from it. "Ms. Silver" This was going a bit too far. James had to say his piece. "What is so severe about taking these cards that two of your company's top people would come all the way here?"

"Hey.." None of his words seemed to interest her. Iria's gaze never left Uno. "Look, miss, you won't like what you'll hear. But I don't remember anything before yesterday so I can't give you the answer no matter how much I want to." Yes, Uno was aware of how unbelievable it sounded. This was all he could give her. "You are right; I did not like what I heard, thief." So Iria absolutely did not believe it. "But it's true. He woke up in this town, and he forgot everything, even his name!" Alice tried to back him up. Coming from her, the story sounded a touch more genuine. "You realize what kind of story you are presenting. The convenience is rather trite." She stared at Uno again. "You have no name. Then what do you call yourself?" She at least wanted to something to write down, and _Bob_ did sound fake. "Uno. As far as I can see, that is my name." At least it was one thing he could tell her. "No..." In fact it was something that seemed to shake her steely demeanor. "Is that an attempt at subterfuge? _Where_ have you heard that name?"

"Is it important?" Uno asked her back. She did not delve in deeper. "You.. stay here." The Iria hologram dismissed itself, but the barrier stayed. "Did you scare her away?" Alice wondered. "Something did."

...

"You mean your colleague followed you? Why?" Emily just heard from Zach what was going on with the dueldisks, how hers was now placed online and how it fed a line to Uno's disk. "If I were to place a wager, I'd say it's because she did not expect me to succeed." Zach spoke his mind. He soon learned a lesson not totalk behind the back of someone who could hear everything. "I did expect you to..." As Zach's own disk projected the image of Iria. "Oh.. Good morning, Silver."

"Greetings Creffield. Your defeat though unlikely, was deemed possible. Thus I prepared the back-up plan which is now in effect. Like I said; why deal with a problem in person, when you can just do it from a controlled position." She continued as if noone else was in the room. "Hey! Are you this Silver person? What did you do? If something is going on with my family.." At least until Emily shouted in her virtual ears. "I spoke to them too and am detaining them until we can sort things out. Perhaps you could speed things up."

"Her? Did you not get any data from them?" Zach knew Iria well, enough to think it was uncommon for someone to exist who could deny her what she wanted. "Just his name, he claims to have forgotten everything else. He says his name is Uno.." As she uttered a name, Zach's eyes went wide. "Uno? He can't be Uno!" He protested. "Clearly." Iria rolled her eyes. That was not the issue here. "Uno? You know someone named Uno?" This gave Emily . The name 'Uno' remembered was not his own? Then whose was it? "I will tell you what I told them. I do not answer questions, I give them. You can begin by telling me where you found this 'Uno'." The way she spoke was unnerving. Emily knew Iria was not physically here and still she felt intimidated. "Iria. Is this really necessary? She probably has no part in all of this, they just wanted to help someone out." Zach pleaded. "The reason for their association is not relevant. This whole area has to be quarantined. Nothing less will.."

"Hey Emily. Did you see that helicopter outside? Also your backdoor is open for some reason, just thought you should..Whoa!" Eric took this unfortunate moment to stroll into the living room. He did not pick up on the severity of the situation until he stared right at the two Disciples. "Eric! What are you doing here?" Emily wanted to alert him to the danger before it was too late. Iria already had her eyes set on him though. "Eric? You must be the one who dueled 'Uno' last. Your name is logged in here along with Alice and Emily. Tell me what happened exactly, what made you lose that duel?" Eric was scrambling for words as the holographic Iria closed the gap between them. This woman was determined to get the truth, she would not stop. "Rgh!" Emily did the only thing she could come up with. "Hey, now hang on.." She grabbed Zach's dueldisk and tossed it to the floor as hard as she could. Then she destroyed her own dueldisk the same way. "!?" Iria Silver blinked out of existence. Without the disks projectors, she could not be projected here.

"What the hell? Are you guys in trouble? Also.. who or what, was that?" Eric stood there befuddled by pretty much all of what he had just seen. "Was that.. one of those artificial ladies?" The way she looked and talked, Eric almost mistook her for a machine. "No.. No she is quite human." Zach revealed as he looked over his own smashed dueldisk. "She is nuts." Emily summed up how she experienced miss Silver. "Silver is very devoted to our Master." Zach said sighing. He knew his words would not come across so trustworthy after that display. ".. You said the disks were linked right? So can she still work with Uno's disk if this one is gone?" Emily was hoping that she had interpreted that problem right. "I imagine so, considering it was my disk's codes that allowed her to influence the others in the first place. Mind you, Iria will not take this sitting down. Nor will she be fond of someone who interfered and destroyed two Dreamworld dueldisks. My suggestion is for you to stay here and tell your friends to come back as well. I can not stop you, but I'd much rather talk this out than watch Iria chase you."

...

The results of Emily's actions were noticed all the way down the road. "Huh?" The barriers created by the disk had been switched off. "Is she letting us go? Well, it doesn't matter. I am going back." James was not going to sit around here when he had no idea of what was happening to his daughter. If they could, they had to start moving. "I will go with you. Maybe I can get them to leave you alone if I talk with them." Uno jumped into the back of the pickup truck. "Maybe." Mr. Brandt started the vehicle and turned it around. Alice also got back to her seat and opened the rear window. Just to say something quickly. "I knew you'd come back." She smiled and closed the window again. "Yeah.." That girl had more faith in him than he did in himself. _"Uno, you owe these people."_ He told himself. What was with that name anyway? What caused Iria to withdraw? That was not the only question mark to stick around. _"My Pendant, she did not mention anything about that."_ If Dreamworld Technologies was only after the pendulum cards, then how did this pendulum jewel factor into all of this?

Brandt drove back as fast as he could and he called his daughter and put her on speaker-phone. "You're okay? Thank god." He was not sure what he thought could happen, he was just glad nothing came of it. "We're heading back. We found him, and he is coming with us." However that was not the kind of news Emily was hoping for. "What? Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean Uno must be long gone by now." She was careful with her words, her father could tell why. "That man is still with you?" Zach likely could not hear what he was saying. Unless they were tapping the phone. "These people.. they will come after us even if he isn't here. Okay, Emily, I have a plan, I'll be there soon." He turned the phone off. "Uno, Alice. I'll park the car in garage again. Stay out of sight. I know you said you wanted to see this man, but it's better if we can make him think you ran the opposite direction. Maybe we can get them to leave the town alone for a little while. When the coast is clear, I will get you out of here..."

Moments later, the family was back. Uno stayed in the back of the truck, while the Brandts came in through the front door. Eric and Emily were there, and so was Zach. "Ah. Sir Brandt. I missed you before." Zach extended a hand to the man of the house. "I'd like to offer my sincere apologies for my associate's.." The disciple struggled to find the right word for a second. "...extreme methods. You and your family were only doing what you thought was best." Brandt eventually shook the mans hand, but with a strong grip. "Is that what you are doing it for as well? All this noise for cards.." James did not get the outside world anymore, how could a cardgame company have this much power? But changed the world had. "This game has gotten bigger than you seem to realize. The technology put into these things is no child's play. If an outside source got their hands on it, who knows what could happen."

Brandt released Zachs hand. Zach winced a little. "To use that term of phrase; we are not the bad guys. We are merely trying to understand what happened. It is simply healthier for us all, including Uno, to cooperate. I doubt Silver will let him escape the region." Who knew what Zach meant with that. This company could have people patrolling the road to the city to catch Uno. James did not want to know how close the authorities were. They did not have a big headstart. "Kids. Leave the room. This man and I have something to discuss." On the surface, Brandt seemed to concede to Zach's request. "I appreciate it sir. Ah, before I forget.." Zach glanced over the mans huge shoulders to look at Eric fiddling with the broken dueldisk. "Could you please leave that behind? It is evidence." What could be salvaged could be analyzed by the boys and girls back at the lab. "Eh, fine." Eric let it go. He'd never put this mess back together anyway.

He and the sisters retreated to the halls. There Alice whispered what Emily already figured, that Uno was here and in hiding. "Here? Isn't this the last place he should be?" Eric panicked, forcing Emily to shush him. "Pipe down. Dad's good at this. You should see him out-talk telemarketers. He'll have this guy packing in a heartbeat, and then we can slip Uno out of here." This time they would have to accompany him to make sure he made it to safety. "But what if he did really do those things, steal those cards?" Eric couldn't help being skeptical. "He couldn't have. He's too nice to be a thief." Alice insisted. Then she came with her own idea. "Maybe we can make a break for it now. Emily you can drive the truck!" She knew her sister had had learned to drive a little, in case she needed to help her dad. "Not that well. And we are not doing anything without dad." She responded angrily.

"I can drive, if you need me to." Out of nowhere, Uno joined the conversation. "Uno!? You..you can't be here!" Emily gasped. "I can't be anywhere, so I might as well be here. Listen, maybe I did really steal those cards and I do deserve all of this. But you don't, I want to help fix this."

"But.. Huh?" Emily shuddered as her phone began to vibrate. "!?" She looked at the screen and saw a textmessage. "Is it dad?" Alice asked softly. Her sister nodded. "He wants us to.. No..." There was a lump in her throat. This could not be happening. Alice read it instead. "Take Uno to mom. There are supplies in the truck, do not worry about me. Oh.." He had texted this while Zach was distracted with his own speech it appeared. "Em.. Dad will be alright, wont he? He's tough. He only wants us to go before more of them arrive." For once Alice had to be the stronger voice. They could not stay here, they could not fight a company like this. "To your mothers place?" Uno had been wondering where the other half of the parent duo was. "She works for the government and its an election year, so she has to travel a lot. Right now she's staying at some hotel far down south." Going to her place would take them away from the city. One one hand it was a day-long drive, on the other hand the cops would not think to look for Uno there. "And if this is what dad wants.."

Inevitably they snuck back into the pickup truck. "Eric you should go to your mother, she'll probably be worried." Alice noticed that Eric was still around. He looked concerned. "But..Uno.. you were going to teach me to be an awesome duelist." He did not want to say goodbye, not after the things he had seen. "Maybe another time." Uno said. Dragging someone else into this mess was not what he wanted on his plate. "Are you sure? I could already be in trouble." Eric was sure that they'd want to interrogate him. That was something _he_ did not want on his plate. "Just go, Eric." Emily was having none of it either way. She started the car, and moved out of the garage. She was hoping to make a getaway without being spotted.

"Hey!" But this time Zach did not let himself get fooled, he recognized the noise of the truck by now. "Where are they going?!" He rushed out the house , joined by his two bodyguards. "He saw us!" Eric yelled. Things were taking a turn for the worst. "Leave them!" Yet they were saved. First Mr. Brandt stormed out his house and surprisingly Mrs Stonewell then stormed out of hers. "You leave my boy alone. He hasn't hurt a fly!" The woman hollered at Zach before turning to her son. "Run, Eric! I won't let these bad men take you away!" She screamed. "Wow, mom." There was an image Eric did not think he ever would be seeing. The bodyguards had a lot on their hands with her. "Madam, there is no need for drama. Sir get out of our way." One guard managed to slip by, only to come in contact with the rest of the townfolk flooded in. "What on earth?" The people came to complain about the noise, about corruption in the industry that was trying to extort the children, and so forth. The disciple and his men could barely move, much less get to the helicopter.

"Uh.. do you think dad called in some favors?" Alice wondered if these people were genuinely mad or just trying to help Brandt. In this small town everyone knew each other, and liked each other. "Not really important! Eric, looks like you are coming with us after all. Get in!" Time was too short to think twice. "Aw yes!" Eric jumped inside, along with his backpack full of cards. This was how he prepared himself. Then, at last, they were off. Uno took over the wheel while Emily tried to catch a glimpse of her father through the rearview mirrors. She spotted him as he gave her a thumbs up. A minute later, it was all behind them. "I can't believe I did this."

"It will work out Emily." Alice tried to reassure her. "We are going to see Mom again. There is a bright side to all of this." Uno would take them to their mother and they would see things from there. "Yeah, I suppose. At least now they have no reason to bother dad anymore." Not even Dreamworld could be that vindictive. Though Emily did not look forward to hearing what mom had to say about this. "..You're a good driver, Uno." Alice was impressed. He did not look old enough to get a license. Not that he had one anyway. "I suppose.. muscle memory is a real neat thing." Instinctively Uno knew exactly what to do. He'd be showing off tricks, if this was the place for it. Things had to calm down a bit first. "Here, Alice." Eric took this chance to hand Alice a deck of cards. "Oh, thank you! I nearly forgot!" It was her own Mermail deck. "I would not know what to do without them." She was so happy that she gave Eric a big hug. "Ehr yeah.. you're welcome." Eric pried himself away. He recalled something else he had to give. "Hey Uno. Those guys; they said something about knowing your name. Or knowing someone with your name."

"They did?" This was news to him, big news. "What does that mean? That you aren't Uno?" Or there were two Unos, but that sounded like too big a coincidence. "I think it means I gotta meet whoever this UNO is. Not that it matters, I am going to keep this name. I like the sound of it now." Did this mean that the other Uno was a duelist or someone who worked for Dreamworld Technology? It could be the answer to everything or just a starting point. The downside to all of this was that he would inevitably have to see those Dreamworld people again. Just thinking about them made a picture flash through his mind. It was gone before he could give it a good look, it only left behind the sensation of vague familiarity. _"One step at a time, Uno. The whole world lies ahead. Who knows what else is out there."_

(To be Continued in Annex 006: Room to Breathe)


	6. Room to Breathe

**Annex 006: Room to Breathe**

For several hours now, the car had been driving down the road. At first Emily would have called her father, but Eric talking of phoneline-bugging got to her and made her decide to call mom instead. Unfortunately Mrs Brandt appeared to be too busy to come to the phone. "Do you think we'll get there before dark?" Their mothers was staying at a place, hundreds of miles away. "I can pull it off." Uno stated.. or rather yawned. "Uh. Dad always says you shouldn't drive more than two hours in a row. You look pretty tired." Alice knew Uno had not exactly taken a good night's rest. "Hm. Maybe you're right." They were driving along the countryside. The only thing in the neighborhood was a gasstation and a few farms. They were safe here, probably. "As long as it doesn't take too long." Emily did not know how far Zach was behind them. A helicopter could catch up fast. "Maybe he doesn't know where we are going?" Eric shrugged. "A short break wont hurt I think."

They were in agreement. Uno stopped the car at the gas-station and cashed in his quick nap. Emily meanwhile went out to see what she could do about getting the car refueld. Eric and Alice stayed behind to obeserve their surroundings. "I've never been this far away from home. Not without mom and dad at least." The mere sight of all that flat green terrain amazed Eric, though there did not seem much to do here.. "Yeah. Me neither..." Alice took the air in. "Haa.. It smells nice. I wonder what they grow here?" She had half a mind to start looking around, but she did not want to stray from the car.

"Hey check it out.""Is that?""Yeah..." The calm was broken by a pair of voices. "What series is it?""Don't know. Looks brand new." Two teens were eyeing the contents of the back of the truck. "...?" That was where they had left Uno's dueldisk. "Ah. Hello!" Alice walked up to greet the curious pair. "Are you talking about the disk? Are you guys, duelists?" The two looked at each other. "You can say we are." They revealed their own dueling devices. "The name's Boris. And this is my pal, Jet." The one with brown curls and sunken eyes introduced himself and his partner with the pointy black hair and widowpeak. "Hiya! I'm Alice, and this is my friend Eric!" She returned the courtesy. Jet nodded. "Alice, eh? So that disk is yours or your friends?" He also saw Uno dozing off in the pickup. Every dueldisk had its owner. "It's mine." And Alice claimed this one.

"Alice? What are you doing?" Eric took her aside and talked to her softly. "I don't want them to bother Uno is all." She whispered before turning back to the duelists. She also took the dueldisk and strapped it on her wrist, to prove that she knew how to handle it. "Ah. Of all the places to meet another duelist. I guess we're both here for the tournament." Boris chuckled. "Tournament?!" Eric liked what he heard. "Say. Why don't we duel, just a quick friendly match to test our skills." Jet activated his own disk. "I don't know...we have to be somewhere." Alice did not want to slow the others down, but she did not want to be rude either. And a duel could be fun. "It won't take long." Jet smiled. "You can do it, Alice." Even Eric was goading her. "Okay, I'll do it!" She inserted her cards and turned on the machine. "A solid energy blade? Nice." Jet's envy was showing His dueldisk was fully made of plastic and metal, including the blade section. "You go ahead. Show me what you got, Alice."

Alice's LP: 8000 Jet's LP: 8000

"Okay!" Both players drew five cards, Alice moved to her main phase. "I'll summon my Mermail Abyssteus in defense mode!" Abyssteus, the ancient deepsea fish(7/1700/2400) in knights armor, could special summon itself from Alice's hand at the cost of another Water-monster in her hand. The card she discarded was Atlantean Dragoons. "When Abyssteus is summoned like this, he lets me take a lowlevel Mermail from my deck. And because I sent Dragoons to the graveyard, I can use his monster searching effect too!" Abyssteus gave Alice a Mermail Abyssgunde, while the Atlantean dragonrider selected a seaserpent; Mermail Abysslinde. "I set a monster, since I havent normal summoned yet." Alice placed Abysslinde in face-down defense position. She also placed a trap card down. "That was it! What do you think?" The guys had to be seasoned duelists. She was hoping she did not look bad in comparison. "Mermails and Atlanteans are a decent combination. Looks like she could be tough, Jet." Boris said. "Tough enough for me, you think?"

"Alice? What is this?" Unfortunately by now, Emily had finished filling the tank and paid for the fuel. "We have to go, we can't duel now!" She could not believe her sister would be this shortsighted with the time. "Sis, I.." And when Emily got mad, Alice did not have it in her to fight back. "Wait! Emily.. Uno still needs to sleep a little, and how will it look if we run away now?" Eric offered some counter-arguments in her stead. Part of him did simply want to see this duel play out. "Is there a problem? C'mon, I was about to get my turn?" Jet moaned. "I told your sister, we wont take much of your time. Besides once a duel has begun, you should see it through til the end." Boris tried a more persuasive approach. "...Rgh." Emily would not say yes, but she did not say no either.

"We cool? Cool. Let me show you something Cool too!" Jet could finally draw his card. "I summon Blackwing - Ghibli the Searing Wind." His first monster was a six-winged bird(3/0/1600) with black and red feathers. "Blackwings?" The trio thought that name sounded vaguely familiar. "Haven't played against these yet? Then you are in for a doozy! When I control a Blackwing, I can special summon the tuner monster; Blackwing - Gale the Hurricane from my hand!" A more humanoid greenfeathered bird(3/1300/400) joined Ghibli in the air. "Gale has a special effect! It halves the attackpoints of an opponents monster once a turn!" The Blackwing flapped its wings and created a small storm that pushed Abyssteus(850/2400) down to the dirt. At least it was in defense position. "And now..I synchro summon!" All of the sudden, Gale the Hurricane left the field. He transformed into three pure rings of light. "I tune Gale with Ghibli!" Ghibli soared through the rings, reducing itself to three glowing stars. Both remnants collided, causing a bright flash. "Synchro monster: Blackwing Armed Wing!" The endresult of the explosion was a new monster, an armored winged warrior(6/2300/1000) who carried a large rifle.

"Synchro summon, Synchro monster!? You.. you're with the guilds?" Emily had heard of these, but she thought only members of a guild could have a card like this. "Uhh.. What happened?" Eric had never even seen this mechanic before. "You don't know what a synchro summon is? Maybe a second demonstration will help. See, you need a tuner monster and a non-tuner monster!" Jet special summoned another monster from his hand, a black bird(1/400/600) with a big red waddle. "Oroshi the Squall is a tuner monster. I can special summon it if I already control a Blackwing. Now, you count the tuner's levels". Oroshi converted itself into energy rings as well; one from its one level star. "You add the nontuner monsters level. And you send both monsters to the grave." Blackwing - Armed Wing transformed into six brilliant stars. Another explosion followed. "Then you can special summon a synchro monster from your extra deck, if its level is the same as what we counted up! That is a synchro summon!" Seven level stars meant a 7th level Blackwing. A native-american looking bird shaman(7/2600/2000) emerged. "Blackwing Tamer - Obsidian Hawk Joe!"

"Oh and yeah, we are with the guild; the Synchro Guild." He pointed at a badge on his coat. It had a symbol of a white dragon on it. Boris' shirt had a similar symbol. "You are?!" Emily's eyes widened.

The duel continued. "Oroshi the Squall switches a monsters position when he becomes a synchro material!" Oroshi's effects activated as it entered the grave, and Steus was switched to attack position. "Oh no!" Alice gasped. This was just the beginning. Jet activated his synchro monster's effect. "Blackwing Tamer Hawk Joe can bring one downed level 5 or higher Blackwing back to life; back to the skies!" The Tamer used his powers to special summon Blackwing Armed Wing from the graveyard. "And I can bring out another!" Yet another Blackwing was summoned from his hand, a masked assassin bird(4/1900/300), clothed in red. "Like Gale and Oroshi; Blackwing - Kris the Crack of Dawn can be special summoned if I control a Blackwing." Jet had three monsters, two synchros, all in one turn. "Here it comes!" Blackwing Armed Wing attacked first, the gunner(2800/1000) loaded his rifle. "Armed Wing gains 500 attackpoints when it attacks a defending monster. And it will pierce through that monsters defense!" Armed Wing fired a shot which tore right through the face-down Mermail Abysslinde; the blue-haired mermaid(4/1500/1200) in red armor.

Alice's LP: 6400

"Ow. But.." Alice reacted rapidly. "When Abysslinde is destroyed, she can bring a new Mermail to my field." Alice used Abysslinde's effect to special summon Mermail Abysspike(4/1600/800) from her deck, in defense position. "I pick him. Because Abysspike can discard a water card from my hand to add a new lowlevel one." The Mermail traded Atlantean Marksman for a Mermail Abysshilde card. "Oh? Marksman... Better look out, Jet" Boris knew what that card could do. Now that Alice had sent the Atlantean to a watery grave, it would destroy one face-up card. "I want to destroy Obsidian Hawk Joe!" An arrow was shot out of the depths, towards the strongest Blackwing on the field. "It would be dangerous, Boris..." But at the last second Armed Wing intercepted the arrow and took the hit. ".. if Hawk Joe could not switch with another Blackwing if he is targeted by a effect! Nice try, Alice!" The weaker synchro monster died in his place. "Aw.." Alice sighed.

"Moving on.." Jet sent out Kris the Crack of Dawn. It attacked Abysspike, stabbing it to death with its Kris dagger. "One more to go!" The last clash would be between the weakened defenseless Abyssteus and the Blackwing Tamer. "Wait. I use his trap first. If I am going to lose him anyway.." Alice flipped the trap, Aquamirror Cycle. "I send Abyssteus to my deck, and I get back two water monsters from the graveyard." Abyssteus was thrown into a pristine mirror. From the other end of the glass came Mermail Abysslinde and Abysspike, which she added to her hand. "Hah.. You made the best out of the worst." Jet wiped his finger under his nose. "Guess this attack is all for you!" Hawk Joe threw his fist through the girl. She might not have felt it, but her lifepoints did. "That was it for now."

Alice's LP: 3800

"..Alice. You have to stop this. This isn't right." Emily did not like this. These Guild people were clearly out of their league. "But I want to go on. I'm having fun, sis." Alice did not see it that way. For her this was not about winning. "He summoned a lot. It's a little scary. But.. I can do something about it!" She drew a card, and then discarded four cards from her hand. "Dude, what!?" Atlantean Dragoons, Abysshilde, Abysslinde and Abyssgunde were all tossed into the grave, to satisfy the summoning condition of the last card in her hand. "I special summon Mermail Abyssbalaen in attack mode!" The water shot up high, making way for the massive blue whale warlord(7/2500/2000). "Abyssbalaen? Oh man, I didn't think anyone seriously used _that_ card. What does it do again?" Jet had a look of bewilderment on his face. That expression intensified when Abyssbalaen(3000/2000) charged up and destroyed his two Blackwing monsters with a huge tidal wave. "Gah!"

"Heehee. Abyssbalaen destroys as many monsters as there are Mermails in the graveyard. And he gains 500 attackpoints as well." Hawk Joe's effect was not going to stop a multi-targeting effect. "And there is more! You already know why, right?" Over half of the discarded cards had their effects go off. Mermail Abyssgunde, because she was discarded, special summoned a Mermail, Abysspike(4/1600/800) from the graveyard in attack position. The Atlantean Dragoons added another seaserpent to Alice's hand; Mermail Abyssturge. And Abysshilde, because she was sent to the graveyard, could special summon that monster from Alice's hand. Abyssturge the sturgeon merman(4/1700/1100) swam to the surface. "I think every Mermail should get a chance to shine. No matter how hard it is to summon them sometimes. It's all worth it!" The trio of Mermails swarmed Jet with direct attacks. Balaen hit him with his giant hammer, Spike stabbed him and Sturge impaled him with his lance. Quite brutal, for a holographic onslaught.

Jet's LP: 1700

"Jet. You aren't doing too hot." Boris pointed out the obvious. "Grrr. Thank you, Boris." Jet spat. "Alice, you surprised me. But I wont let that happen again. To lose like this, the guild would never let me hear the end of it!" As Alice was out of cards and attacks. Jet just assumed it was his turn. "Draw!" And what he added to his hand would turn everything around. "Aha! I normal summon Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North!" A small white bird(2/1300/0) with black tufts hopped down before Jet. "Blizzard lets me special summon one level 4 Blackwing from my graveyard!" The floor opened up, and from the light came the level 4 Blackwing Kris the dawnbreaker. "Synchro summon!" Jet removed both monsters from the field. Blizzard tuned itself with Kris to form a creature if six stars, a black knight raven(6/2400/1600) with darkand gold armor. "Blackwing Nothung the Starlight! When he is special summoned, he can inflict 800 points of effect damage!" Nothung threw his sword away, making it spin through the air like a boomerang. It phased through Alice. "Ah no!"

Alice's LP: 3000

"Nothung then takes off 800 points from a monster!" The sword spun back to its master, but it cleaved through Mermail Abysspike along the way. "Eeeh!" The Mermail(800/800) had lost its left arm, it was quite a shocking graphical display. "Why did he target Abysspike?" Eric did not understand why Jet was leaving Abyssbalaen alone, when it would obviously kill Nothung on the next turn. Unless.. "He's gonna end it now? Alice!" Crying about it would not change anything anymore. "Attack!" Jet spared nothing. The Starlight raven struck with the sword in its hands. "I discard Blackwing Kalut the Moonshadow from my hand!" And the specter of another blackwing haunted the synchro monster. "Kalut can discard itself during a fight, to give a battling Blackwing 1400 more attackpoints!" Nothung(3800/1600)'s sword had more than enough power to destroy Alice's monster and Alice's lifepoints in one go. "Take her down!" Mermail Abysspike was cut in half, and the duel was decided. "It's.. over already?" Alice looked at her own lifepoint bar. "It happened so fast.."

Alice's LP: 0

"That is what we promised. Allthough you had Jet worried there." Boris laughed to himself. "I was going to win either way. She doesn't even have any extra deck cards." Jet grumbled. "But an ante is an ante."

"Ante?" That word, the implication of it made Alice shiver. "You want.. my cards? But I.." An Ante was something duelists sometimes used to make duels more exciting, the loser would give the winner their rarest card. But she never dueled like that, she never had any card she wanted to throw away. Her cards were given to her on her birthday "What you didn't know? Guild members always duel with Antes involved. If you do not bet manually, then rarity makes the choice for you." Their dueldisk had already selected which card that was; Mermail Abyssmegalo. It was the only ultra rare card Alice had. And the dueldisk prevented her from taking it out herself. "Wait, she does not have to do this! She never agreed to it!" Emily shouted. Boris shook his head. "You are in our territory now, miss. You have to abide by our rules." He explained. "But don't you have enough cards already?" Eric took he girls side. But Alice was already taking out the card they requested. "It is okay, guys. I lost fair and square.. so..you.. can have it." She gave the card to Jet. "I hope you can use it." If it made someone happy, it was not that bad, was it?

"..Hey Boris. Wanna trade?" Jet turned to his friend. "What?" Alice looked on, nearly mortified, as Jet just casually exchanged her card for a random ultra rare spell card. "But.." And Boris said something about using the card to get some money from the guildleader, or something. She was not really listening anymore. All she knew was a strange feeling welling inside her.

"Hey. Is that Alice's card?" It was _his_ voice that cleared it all up. "Hm? Not anymore...and who are you?' Boris and Jet met Uno. He had woken up from his nap. "Call me Uno. And you two most be those guild-people I keep hearing about." Uno looked at them and then at Alice. "You dueled her huh, and took her card. Well, that makes things straight-forward. I'll just challenge you to get the card back." He gave Boris a glare and walked towards Alice. "Uno. You don't have to do it.. It's fine, really." The girl tried to put up a brave smile as Uno took her dueldisk. "It doesn't work Alice. I know when people are happy and when they aren't. And I can see how much those cards mean to you." He gave her the deck, what remained of it. Then he inserted his own cards. "Uno. I want to get even with these jackhats as much as you do. But we can't..." Emily was going to say the same as usual; how they were on the run and could not stay out in the open anymore. Uno did not need the speech, this was going to happen. "We can. I can. If I can't help duelists, if I can't fix the past, what is the point?"

"It's fine by me, Uno man." Boris was all smiles. "If you want to settle things, you can come to the sports arena down the road. Nobody uses it for anything else anyway. Not these days. That's better than taking up space in his gas station, right?" Sooner or later they would draw complaints from people who just wanted to refuel their cars here. "Agreed. And if I win this duel, I want the card you took. Nothing else." He extended his hand. Boris happily accepted it. "And if I win? I'll take any card I wish. I hope you have something good."

(To be Continued in Annex 007: Cross Swords at Cross Roads)

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Mermail Abyssteus  
Mermail Abysslinde  
Mermail Abysshilde  
Mermail Abyssbalaen  
Mermail Abyssturge

-  
Aquamirror Cycle

 **Cards used by Jet  
** Blackwing - Ghibli the Searing Wind  
Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind  
Blackwing - Oroshi the Squall  
Blackwing - Kris the Crack of Dawn  
Blackwing - Blizzard the Far North  
Blackwing - Kalut the Moonshadow

-  
Blackwing - Armed Wing  
Blackwing Tamer - Obsidian Hawk Joe  
Blackwing - Nothung the Starlight


	7. Cross Swords at Cross Roads

**Annex 007:** **Crosswords at Crossroads**

There they were, sitting on a bench in a big empty sport center. "This is not a good idea. What if he loses too?" There was not a single thing that Emily liked about this plan. "And what if those people come.." Her eyes drifted to the window all the time just for fear of Dreamworld goons turning up outside. "He'll make quick work of them. They won't see what's coming once he uses those Pendulum cards." Considering how fast Eric lost once Uno performed his pendulum summon, he could not see the duel ending any other way but with Uno's victory. "But the last time he pendulum summoned..they found our town. He knows that, so he might not even want to use those cards." Emily had not seen many of the Performapals tricks. But she did not think they could not stand up to something of Jets caliber. Who knew what Boris was using. "He didn't have to do this.. I said I was fine with it." Alice whimpered to herself. She did not feel she was worth it.

When it came down to it, none of them had the answer or the ability to get Uno off of his path. He was going to do this for them, for Alice. And it was all for one simple reason. They were his friends now. They had been for some time, but it was not until today that he completely acknowledged that fact. Though he slept only for a handful of minutes in that truck, he did dream... a normal dream. They were all in it. His life was a complete blank, except for them. He did not want to see them upset or lose them. If these guildpeople had not been around, Uno would have told them that right now. For now, it was showtime.

Boris' LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"Hey, I finally found the button that changes my name on the screen!" He waved to Eric and the girls in the crowd. "Already one step closer towards a perfect duel!" They did not look to enthusiastic. He would have to fix that. "Youre finally ready? Uno? You have the first turn." Boris, the opponent, was waiting. "Ready as I will ever be!" Uno drew five cards. "Allthough I suspect you guild guys just hand out first turns, so you can take the first draw and battle phases all to yourself. Well, I am gonna keep the crowd on edge!" He placed one trap card face-down and summoned a new monster. "Today our feature presentation will begin with a waterdancer.. on solid ground. I summon Performapal Skeeter Skimmer!" It was an orange boatsman insect(4/500/1600), with a literal boat on its back. Naturally this Performapal had a dashing top hat as well. "That ends this turn."

"The hell is that?" Boris did not know whether to laugh or to be disgusted. The main thing to take away from this was that the Guild seemed to be unfamiliar with Performapals. "It's weaksauce! Kill it, Boris!" Jet shouted from the sidelines. "That will not be hard. But.. its destruction will just be the tip of the iceberg." Boris' turn now; he normal summoned a horned fiendish knight(4/1900/1000) in silver armor, with a flowing red cape. "This guy is XX-Saber Boggartknight. His effect lets me special summon a X-Saber-monster from my hand. Which I'll be happy to do." What Boris special summoned was a small dragon lizard knight(1/200/300). "The Tuner monster, X-Saber Palomuro." He let the realization sink in for a moment, that he had the materials, before he initiated the process. "Boggartknight joins with Palomuro, and that makes X-Saber Wayne!" The tuned stars of the Beastly warrior and the reptile, synchro summoned a half-mummified cowboy(5/2100/400) in a tattered blue coat. "Of course, if you can't synchro summon on the first turn, you shouldn't be in the guild anyway."

"But why stop at one? X-Saber Wayne summons a level 4 or lower warrior!" The trigger effect of Wayne made him fire a shot at one card in Boris' hand. The card, a green armored knight(4/1800/800) with a frog-faced mask, was brought down to the field. "This time it's X-Saber Galahad. Since you are new to Sabers, I will explain his effect to you too. He gains 300 attackpoints when he fights another monster. But we aren't there yet! Since I control two Sabers, X-Saber Faultroll an summon himself from my hand!" Boris special summoned a futuristic knight(6/2400/1800) in neon cyber armor. "Ugh. Those knights are all over the place." Eric did not like these cards, or the fact that they kept coming. "Is that what you think? Wait until you see how well they work together! Faultroll can summon an X-saber from the graveyard!" The Cyber warrior planted his sword in the ground and dug up the X-Saber Palomuro card. The reptile tuner took form again. "And I synchro summon a level 7 monster from my extra deck!" Palomuro was combined with Faultroll. Their bursting stars gave life to a bare-chested brute of a knight(7/2500/1600). "X-Saber Souza!" Just like Jet before him, Boris had brought out two synchro monsters in just one turn. "That's the way!" Jet roared.

"Now let's do some bug hunting. I'll make this quick." The battle phase commenced. X-Saber Galahad(2100/800) plunged his spear into Skeeterskimmer. "Not that quick! This is not a one-man show, Boris!" Uno responded with flair, as he raised his arm above his head. "The crowd wants to see some of my tricks too! When Skeeterskimmer is attacked, he can negate the attack by switching himself to defense!" Skeeterskimmer closed the wings on its backs to form a sort of shield that deflected the masked warriors spear. "Yeah right. That is the kind of effect I'd expect from a bug. But it can't switch positions again!" Boris clenched his hand and ordered the second attack. "Wayne!" The cowboys guns fired several bullets at the Skeeter insect, ripped it open from the inside. Stars splattered everywhere. "Straight line." Uno was left for the X-Saber Souza. The brutish warrior shot forward with both his swords, towards a seemingly helpless Uno. "Uno, are you gonna let him hit you?!"

"Already on top of it, Emily!" Uno waited til the last possible second to reveal his trap card. "I activate Performapal Call. With this trap I may negate one direct attack, and add two Performapals from my deck to my hand. Their combined defense points cannot be greater than what the attacking monster's attackpoints. So who is down for some math?" Souza froze in its tracks. "I add Performapal Helpprincess and Hip Hippo!" The two monsters Uno added had 1200 and 800 defense points respectively, 2000 defense points combined. It fit the criteria of being lower than 2500 attackpoints. "Fancy that! Instead of losing one card, you helped me gain two whole new ones! Nothing to worry about." He hoped Emily was a bit more at ease now. "You're annoying to predict. That works in your favor, Uno." Boris placed one card down in the spell/trap zone. That was it for his turn. "But how are you at fighting back?"

"Oh. Want to get to the bigger stuff so soon? Maybe I should oblige." Uno drew a card. "..?" It was Timegazer Magician. _"No.. not yet."_ Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon was already in his hand. It too had a scale, so it could be combined with Timegazer's scale to allow a pendulum summon. But he could only summon one card that way, and right now he did not want to use it. There should be enough in his deck to win without pendulums, he told himself. Unless X-Sabers had more secrets to show off. "I summon the Performapal Hip Hippo." The Pink Hippo(3/800/800) took center stage once more. "This time he will be joined by Performapal Helpprincess! She can special summon herself when I normal summon a Performapal." Uno's show had human guests too, Helpprincess was a peppy young demoness(4/1200/1200) with purple hair, purple dress and bowties all over. "Hip Hippo meanwhile.." Uno sacrificed both his monsters. "Added this twist. With his effect I can normal summon a level 7 monster, I summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

"Now we're talking." Boris was a bit more thrilled to see a monster like the red dragon(7/2500/2000). It stood head and tail above his Sabers and the Performapals. "Nothing less for you, Boris. Here's the scoop. Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon doubles any battle damage when it fights another monster!" So to do the most damage, Uno targeted X-Saber Galahad. Galahad's own effect weakened it(1300/800) by 500 points if he was attacked by another monster. "Attack!" Odd-Eyed fired a blast of flames towards the warrior, burning it down to ashes. "Did you say.. Double the damage? That'd be 2400 points. Hah, pretty funny." Boris took the damage and immediately afterwards he flipped a quickplay spell card. "Saber Reflection! I heal the damage I take while I control a X-Saber-monster. And you lose those lifepoints instead!" The fire changed colors, from red to blue. "Uh oh." Uno became the victim of his own offense, as the flames returned to him. "Oh no. He couldn't even hit him with Odd-Eyes!" Eric was aghast. Things did not normally go that bad so fast. "I knew it." Emily was already imagining a loss at this rate.

Uno's LP: 5600

"Saber Reflection has a second effect. Kinda like a bonus. I can add a new Saber spell from my deck to my hand." Boris used this effect to add another Saber Reflection spell to his hand. "One more thing, Uno. When you destroy an X-Saber, a X-Saber Palomuro in the graveyard can be revived. It only costs 500 lifepoints." The guild duelist special summoned his reptilian tuner back to his field. Uno couldn't do much about that either. "Hmhmm. Turn over, I suppose."

Boris' LP: 7500

Boris drew his card and thought about his next move. "If I had known I would draw this card. I wouldn't have bothered with a second Saber Reflection. You're in luck, Uno." Boris normal summoned a green chameleon knight(1/200/1000). "XX-Saber Ragigura. When I summon this beastwarrior, a X-Saber card in the grave returns to my hand." Ragigura's effect retrieved X-Saber Faultroll. "No traps or spells either, so who needs Hyunlei? Why don't I make it a triple union!" Both Ragigura and X-Saber Wayne were removed, along with Palomuro. The three Sabers tuned into yet another X-Saber Souza(7/2500/1600) synchro monster. "Faultroll!" Boris could special summon the Cyberknight6/2400/1800) from his hand again, as he controlled two Saber monsters. And as soon as it was on the field, the X-Saber used his reviving ability to summon X-Saber Ragigura from the graveyard. "Let's try this again." Ragigura's effect could be used as many times as he wanted, so Boris took X-Saber Boggartknight back from his graveyard. "Now, you're just repeating yourself." Eric yelled. "Boohoo. I am not in this to show you new things, I am in this to win!"

As if to punctuate his sentence, the door to the hall slammed open. "!" Emily spun around, expecting to see a dozen bodyguards or cops to storm in. Instead it was just one man in biker gear. His face was obscured by his helmet. "Someone new? Did he come here to exercise?" It was what Alice expected of a place like this. "Ah.." Jet and Boris had a different attitude to this stranger though. "Chief.." One of complete awe and trepidation. "Chief? He's part of the same guild?" Emily looked closer now. His outfit had the mark of the Synchro Guild as well.

"Dueling only matters when you win? That's a sorry attitude to take, Boris." Said the man as he leaned against the wall. "I heard there was some noise down here. What have you two been up to?" His voice was light and quick. There were hardly any pauses between his words. "...?" It was strange. Emily thought he heard someone talk that way before, but she could not tell who this guy was as long as he kept the helmet on. "We did everything by the book, chief! They challenged us!" Jet tried to justify their current circumstances. Their Chief listened and shrugged. "That is your side of the story. What is theirs? Hey, friend. What is your name?" He asked Boris' opponent. "Uno. What is yours?" Uno returned the question. This guy was interesting. "They call me Cassius, or chief. You can use the former." He folded his arms and nodded his head. "And don't mind me. If this is on the level, I am sure it will all work out. Go on." He sat down. All he would do was watch. "Cassius eh? I guess you're the leader of this guild."

Though clearly unnerved, Boris returned to focusing on the duel. "I gotta amp it up now. I'll use something only a synchro duelist like me has access too; I activate Angel Baton! I can banish one card from my hand to draw two new cards!" Boris sent the reclaimed Boggartknight away into another dimension, and claimed his new cards. Neither of them were helpful to him right now however. "Hmph. I activate the effect of X-Saber Souza! When I tribute one X-Saber for him, he can destroy any monster he fights before damage calculation!" The first synchro Souza sacrificed the life of XX-Saber Ragigura. This tribute added an eerie glow to his swords. "So even though our monsters are equally matched, only yours will be going to the grave!" The brute charged into the fray. Souza cut down Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon with the glowing swords and ran right through him. "Too bad you don't have a trap this time, Uno!" The other X-Saber Souza and X-Saber Faultroll took out their weapons. They surrounded Uno and slashed at him from both sides. "I will set three cards face-down in my spell/trap zone. You will not like them." One of those had to be the second Saber Reflection he had added to his hand. "You'd be dead already if I had known the duel would be this easy!"

Uno's LP: 700

 _Angel Baton, Normal Spell_  
 _Activate only when you control 1 or more Synchro monsters.  
_ _Banish 1 card from your hand; draw 2 cards. You can only activate 1 'Angel Baton' per turn._

"Hold on." Cassius spoke up again. "Did neither of you notice?" He was homing in on something unique. "What do you mean?" Jet hadn't noticed. Neither did Boris. "You saw?" Alice knew what he was talking about though. When Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon died, it did not go the graveyard. "His monster went into the extra deck, and the dueldisk allowed it. Furthermore. That monster was colored oddly." Cassius had a keen eye. he had seen the orange and blue borders of the dragon. "Your monster was half-spell. I have never seen something like that, and I am a guild runner. What is going on here, Uno? You seem to be full of surprises."

 _"Cat is out of the bag, huh?"_ There was not much point to keeping secrets now, if this guy had caught on. Especially once Uno drew his next card; Stargazer Magician. _"Et tu, deck?"_ Uno could not turn a deaf ear to his own cards, not along with everything else. "Well, Cassius. You're just in time for the special event!" First Uno normal summoned a monster, Performapal Swordfish(2/600/600). "Swordfish takes away 600 attack- and defense points from each monster on the field!" The fishy swords rained down on the synchro X-Sabers(1900/1000) and X-Saber Faultroll(1800/1200) "That is your special event? What a waste of a normal summon!" Jet laughed. Boris was less cocky, but he did not see an immediate threat either. "Heh." On the other hand Eric was grinning like a madman. He knew better. "He is gonna do it?" Even Alice found herself smiling again, as Uno's plan became clear. "Yes, that was my normal summon.. Now.. I will Pendulum summon!" Uno placed Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician in their pendulum zones.

"Pendulum summon!?"

"I can only do it once a turn, so pay attention. The Pendulum monsters are set as spells with special scales of 1 and 8. I will summon any monster from my hand with a level in between those numbers." Eric special summoned a new Performapal, a colorful circus scorpion(6/100/2300) made from toy boxes and kaleidoscopes. "And from my extra deck I can summon any face-up face-up Pendulum monster!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon escaped the extra deck, and roared at the enemy. "What..how?" Boris stammered. "That is a Pendulum summon, Boris!" Because monsters had been special summoned to Uno's field, Performapal Swordfish could strike again with its effect. Another downpour of swords assailed Faultroll(1200/600) and the Souzas(1300/400). "Dude, he must be cheating!" Jet stammered. "Apparently not.. Very interesting." Cassius wanted to see where this would go next.

"I activate Performapal Kaleidoscorpions effect!" The scorpion's tail fired off a beam of prismatic light. The beam encompassed all of Boris' monsters and copied their colors. "He will allow one of my monster to attack your special summoned monsters!" The copied colors were drawn across Odd-Eyed Pendulum Dragon, creating an orange and silver-white duplicate. "Monsters? All of them?" Three against three; the dragons were too strong for his warriors. This also meant that it would do him no good to use PX-Saber Palomuro's effect. If Boris special summoned it from the graveyard, Kaleidoscorpion would just give Odd-Eyes permission to attack that monster as well. "Bingo!" Uno pointed his finger at Boris. "Let's dance, Odd-Eyes!" The first duplicate attacked and blew X-Saber Faultroll to smithereens. Odd-Eyes own effect doubled the 1300 points of battle damage.

Boris' LP: 4900

"I still have face-down cards!" The saber duelist waved his hand over his set spell card. Saber Reflection would sort Uno out. "Oh sorry, you can't." Uno was right, neither spells nor traps would respond. "While Stargazer Magician is set in the pendulum zone, no spells can be activated during a Pendulum monsters attack!" Saber Reflection responded after damage calculation. But Stargazer's restrictions lasted for the entire damage step. "Speaking of which. I owe you two more.. " Uno raised two more fingers. "Bang!" Odd-Eyes and the other clone destroyed both X-Saber Souzas. Delivering a double dose of 1200 damage, that was multiplied again by their effects. "And now Performapal Sword Fish will attack directly!" The coup de grace would be delivered by the monster Boris himself had called weak. Saber Reflection was useless against a fatal hit.

Boris' LP: 100

"That's enough of that!." But now that something else was attacking, Boris was free to activate his trap and bring up a defense. "I activate Reinforce Truth to summon level 1 or 2 warrior from my deck; X-Saber Axel in defense mode!" Boris' trap could special summoned a blue armored knight(1/400/200) with the serrated sword. Swordfish was forced to kill that monster instead. "Ooh. Off by a hundred." Uno snapped his fingers. "Well, I think I'm getting what I want in one more turn. Or is this still too easy for you, Boris?!"

(To be Continued in Annex 008: Caught Up til Yesterday)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Skeeter Skimmer  
Performapal Helpprincess  
Performapal Kaleidoscorpion

-  
Performapal Call

 **Cards used by Boris  
** XX-Saber Boggartknight  
X-Saber Palomuro  
X-Saber Galahad  
X-Saber Faultroll  
XX-Saber Ragigura  
X-Saber Axel

X-Saber Wayne  
X-Saber Souza

Saber Reflection  
 _Angel Baton (+)  
_ -  
Reinforce Truth

 _(+ based on the Speed Spell from YGO 5Ds)_


	8. Caught up til Yesterday

**Annex 008: Caught Up til Yesterday**

"Those children have to be out there somewhere. They would not abandon the roads." Iria was not too happy at her next meeting with Zach and the Master. "The father did not want to say where they were going. If I were to hazard a guess, it would be their relatives they are heading for. But the which and where has yet to be determined." Being thorough gave her no luck thus far. "Silver. This may just be the wrong approach. Perhaps that man really did forget everything. In which case, we can't get information from him anyway." Zach tried to interject, but he only caught a deathly glare from his associate. While Iria did not verbalize her grievances, it was all too clear that she blamed their escape on Zach. "Uhm..anyway. This was why I sent the smashed dueldisk to Research, so they could find out where this specific model came from."

"It sounds like they did 'find' something, didn't they? I suppose you don't keep me and Iria in suspense, Zachary." The Masters curiosity was piqued. "Of course not, sir. They did come to a conclusion, but it may not be a very acceptable one." Zach forwarded the file to the screens of Iria and his boss. "This conclusion can not be right." The discrepancies were obvious from the get-go. "They are saying this dueldisk is entirely unregistered? No known serial number or regional code?" Everything Iria read, made it sound like this dueldisk was not made by Dreamworld Technologies at all. "Could... the damage have muddled the results?" The master inquired as he took his own look at the screen. "Not like this. The codes are not gone, they are incompatible. Uno may not even have stolen it from us." Though Zach could not give an answer on the topic of Uno's pendulum cards. Iria in the mean time, felt this shed light on a whole new evil. "You realize what this means, sir. Someone out there is already making counterfeit dueldisks, ones that can connect to the network." Even if Uno was not a thief, Iria thought, forgery was an unforgivable offense on its own.

"Hmm. That's both honoring me and insulting me at the same time." The Master leaned back in his chair. "Iria, Zachary.. I.."

"Just a second sir!" Zach raised his finger. "You dare interrupt?" Iria hissed at him. "I have to. I think we found the other Uno." Zach had received a message from the research center, a new one. "The boys at the lab are saying there was another spike. Someone pendulum summoned a few minutes ago." That news changed Iria's tune around. "Where? Who is dueling him?" She wanted his position, and fast. "Oh. He is dueling a member of the Synchro guild." Zach said with a look of consternation. "Then they are in their territory." The Master hummed. "Bummer. I was hoping to avoid spoiling the guilds on this."

...

"I knew it. Not even Pendulum monsters can cut it." Emily had seen Uno perform his special miracle again. But unlike Eric, Boris avoided a one-turn kill. Uno's turn was over. "Maybe he thought it would be boring if he won the same way twice?" Eric still had hopes that Uno could pull it off. He had dealt a tremendous blow already. "It's not over yet. But, it is out of his hands." Cassius suddenly joined the discussion. "If Boris draws any monster with 1300 attackpoints or more. Uno is done." Odd-Eyes(7/2500/2000) and the defending Performapal Kaleidoscorpion(6/100/2300) would be fine, but Performapal Sword Fish(2/600/600) was ripe for the slaughter. "Why are you telling us that?" Alice did not know why this man was talking to them now. "Because I do not want you to get your hopes up." He answered. Emily started to feel strangely uncomfortable around this man. Who could trust a man who refused to show his face?

Boris' LP: 100 Uno's LP: 700

"Tough luck eh? I don't know when those cards became a thing, but they did not seal the deal!" Boris started his turn, placing all his faith on his next draw. "!" If it had been a warrior, it could have ended the duel. "Tsk. More bad news." Alas it was a spell card. Boris looked down, he had one other card left. "Even if I can destroy your Pendulum monsters, they will just go to the extra deck and be pendulum summoned on the next turn." Boris knew how dire it was. "Unless.. Chief, you said his Pendulum monsters were half spell?" He looked to his leader for answers. Cassius just nodded. He thought that should have been obvious. "Then we will go with that.. I activate Descending Lost Star!" His set card was revealed to be a revival trap. It targeted X-Saber Wayne in the graveyard. "A synchro monster will descend, with one lost star! It will also lose its defense points and cannot be switched to attack position." The cowboy(4/2100/0) was special summoned as a monster of a lower class. "Perfect.."

"My spell card, Gottoms Second Call. I can special summon two X-Sabers from my graveyard, because I control an X-Saber synchro monster. But their attackpoints are reduced to zero, add they will be destroyed when the turn ends! I cannot enter my battle phase this turn either." Gottom' Second Call revived XX-Saber Ragigura(1/0/1000) and X-Saber Palomuro(1/0/300). "Ragigura puts an X-saber Faultroll back into my hand." Thanks to the chameleon warriors's effect Boris was given his cyberknight again. "Of course, I will call for him!" Faultroll(6/2400/1600) was special summoned, back at full power. "And now.. I tune my level 1 monsters with X-Saber Wayne!" Palomuro synchronized with the stars of Ragigura and the descended Wayne. There were six levels all in all, so what came from the extra deck.. "I synchro summon XX-Saber Hyunlei in defense position!" Was the futuristic swordswoman(6/2300/1300) in golden armor. "Heh. Your Pendulum monsters may be set in special zones, but they are still spell cards! So.." Hyunlei covered her sword with lightning. "They can be destroyed the same way!" The sword unleashed a massive spark that instantly destroyed Timegazer and Stargazer Magician.

"Gah." Uno was forced to send them to the extra deck. "Of course! Hyunlei can destroy up to three spell or trap cards when she is synchro summoned. Nice move, Boris!" Jet excitedly waved his fist in the air. "No. Now he can't pendulum summon anymore." Eric and the girls had the opposite reaction. "Damn. He's doing it again! His turns never end!" Emily groaned. "But Uno should be fine..right sis?" Alice did not think Uno was in any danger as long as Boris couldn't enter his battle phase.

That did not stop Boris from feeling triumphant. "Uno. I made my choice. I'll take your Odd-eyed dragon when I win." Boris made a 'few' more moves. He used Faultrolls effect to resummon Ragigura from the grave again. Ragigura retrieved X-Saber Palomuro. X-Saber Palomuro was normal summoned. And this time the two level 1 Sabers were paired with Faultroll to create a level 8 synchro monster. "I synchro summon the Colossal Fighter in attack position!" No more sabers, this time the extra deck released a titanic warrior(8/2800/1000) in full body armor. "This Colossal guy will gain 100 attackpoints for each warrior in the grave! That includes your graveyard, Uno!" Performapal Helpprincess was a warrior-type as well. She, along with the Souzas/Faultroll/Wayne and Galahad, gave 700 attackpoints to Boris' utlimate fighter(3500/1000). "Next turn, It will be over!"

"That was my line." Uno had his next card in his hand. "I mean, clearly, you were talking about _my_ turn." His smile was wide. "Boris. You could be a good performer. Even with 100 lifepoints, you stand there bravely. But the problem is.. with 100 lifepoints, it does not take a lot of razzle and dazzle to tip someone over. But then that is perfect for you, since you were so down on my Performapals. Without them, I would not be winning right now. And without you summoning so many synchro monsters, you would not be losing right now." Uno summoned yet another one of his circus pals. It was a spiky-feathered eagle(2/900/900) who whore the same kind of shades Uno had on him. "The magic word of the day is Piercing! Performapal Spike Eagle target Odd-Eyes with your ability!" The eagle spread out its wings and covered the dragon with yellow painted stars. "Now Odd-Eyes can attack through defense!" Uno aimed at XX-Saber Hyunlei. "You were good with your attacks, Boris. But shy on defense!" Odd-Eyes finally attacked, incinerating the female warrior with piercing flames. "What? No.. This is't happening." Boris' life was devoured by the odd-colored flames.

Boris' LP: 0

"Oh I think it is. It's your loss, Boris." Uno turned off his disk and walked towards his opponent. "You know what I want now." He reached out with an open hand. By the rules of Ante, Boris had to give Uno the card of his choosing. "...Whatever. Take it. I woudn't ever have used it anyway." Boris took Mermail Abyssmegalo from his binder and handed it over. It was not until this exchange that Uno's victory sunk in. "He actually.. won." Emily couldn't remember why she had been worried in the first place. Eric topped her elation with screams of joy. "Yeaheah! That's the one and only Uno! Not even you synchro jerks can stand up to him!" And Alice, who had gone through everything with confused emotions, could only feel joy now. "Here. This one was yours." As promised, Uno returned the card to its original owner. She did not know how to thank him. "Uno.. you really didn't have to. I could have just replaced.. You had a lot to lose.. a lot more than me." For such a small thing, the card felt very heavy now. "Hey. It is in the past. I would to his any time at any cost. Because you're my friend. So don't feel guilty, okay?" Uno was happy just because she was happy. He wanted nothing more. "You're right. In the past." Alice moved her finger across her lips and smiled.

"This is a nice scene." Cassius' interrupted. "Oh no, don't let me ruin it. Pretend I'm not here." He faced away from them. Tthat was not good enough for Emily. "Do we know you?" This guy acted far too friendly around them. "Well, you wrangled it out of me." Cassius placed his hands on his helmet and pulled it off. "!" Underneath was a young mans face, long spiky hair that had white streaks, and piercing blue eyes. "Aaron?"

This was a face that had crossed the Brandt's eyes before. "You're the guildleader? You didn't tell us right away? You jerk!" Emily was utterly stupefied. She was not the only one. " _You_ know the chief?" Jet cringed. All this time he had been harassing the friends of his superior. "And why are you calling him Aaron?" Aaron was neither his first nor last name. At least that was what Cassius had told them. "Because..that is his name." Alice only knew him as Aaron. "I might have gone for a slightly better sounding name, once I joined the guild. I confess, I'm guilty of harboring an uninspired birthname. God bless my folks." Aaron/Cassius shrugged. "So you do know him? You were friends in the past?" Now Uno was curious. "I don't. Never seen this guy before." Eric said, scratching his head. "He was from before we lived next to your house. Sis and Aaron were in the same class then." Alice revealed to both Eric and Uno. The Brandts were in fact known for moving from town to town due to their mothers job. Though they had stuck to the last town for a few years at least. "Yes. It has been a while, Emily.. Alice."

"That's nice, Aaron. But.." The shock of his appearance and Uno's triumph had worn off. Emily was forced to think about the reality of their situation again. "We really cannot stay and talk. We have to go somewhere." It clearly pained her to even say this. But her fears were winning the fight with her sentimentality. "Emily. Does something have tou troubled? You can tell me. I might be able to help you." Cassius offered a proverbial hand. Emily was reluctant to accept, but Eric went straight for it. "You have no idea! People are after Uno.. and us! They're chasing us because he has those special cards you saw! They said he stole the cards! We ditched them for now, but..." Before he could say too much, Uno placed himself in between Eric and Cassius. "That'll do." He was not sure if he trusted this guy yet, after all. "Chased you say? Interesting. But if you're a friend of Alice, you're a friend of me.. and a friend of the guild." Cassius took a phone from his pocket. "I can give you asylum. You will be protected at the castle."

"The castle!? Chief, say it aint so!" Jet sounded downright offended at what Cassius was suggesting. "I have to agree with Jet! You can't bring outsiders into our main hub!" Boris protested with a near reverent fierceness. "Can't I? Uno here has beaten you in a fair fight. He is already qualified to join our guild at a decent rank." Cassius said with a knowing wink. "Oh!" The gesture made Boris realize something. "What is it, Boris?" Jet saw him checking his Dueldisk. "Oh no! I dropped the chart!" Apparently his loss to Uno had made him lose some points in the guild. "You did! Any more, and I will outrank you!" Jet meanwhile had only gained credit, due to his victory. "Good thing I didn't get Uno after me." Trading away Abyssmegalo was the best decision he could have made.

"Anyway." Cassius ignored those two for now. "The base is not far from here. I can guarantee you that we will help you with your problems. You only need to say yes." He waited for their answer. Most of the group just looked at Emily to make the choice for them. "Well... better you than them." The sun was descending, it was getting colder. The gang would not make it to where they wanted to go anyway. "Okay, for one night.."

...

Cassius, who had Cassius had driven to the sportcenter on his motorcycle, dropped his vehicle in the back of their pickup truck so he could ride with them and give Uno directions on where to go. This way he could clear up the questions that his presence had created. "First off. How the blazes do you shoot your way to the top when you are barely older than I am." It had not been _that_ long since Emily last saw Aaron. Also she thought someone older would be running these guilds. "That's an easy one. Our guild does not work like the others.. none of them are the same, to be honest. But in the synchro system, each signed up duelist is treated the same. We just have different tasks and a lot of planners." He pointed at his own dueldisk. "I'm only seen as the guildrunner, because of my score. I have won more duels than anyone else in the guild, and faster than anyone else too. It's nice to be highly ranked if you want to be famous, but it doesn't mean they have to answer to me or that I boss them around.."

"So that is how. But why did you join the guild? Why this one?" Alice asked him next. "Well we all loved dueling back then, and I can see you still do. If you want to reach your peak as a duelist, entering a guild is the best way to do it. Once you're a member, you can ask Dreamworld Technologies to design cards for you, you can gain access to synchro monsters. Or, if that is your preference, XYZ and Fusion monsters. There's also the Ante rule that they all apply to their duels, but I try to ignore that." Though Jet and Boris had gone their own way after the duel, Cassius did not want to name names. He was not just referring to duelists like them. "The other guilds just.. did not appeal to me. Fusion seems too focused on the trading and collecting aspects. XYZs are too devoted to winning as often as they can. Synchro sits nicely in the middle. One day I was just a rankless nobody. Then I met someone from the guild. I dueled that person and won. That's how I got in. It's that simple." He tapped the side of his vest. "Uno. If you want you can join too. You defeated a member while being witnessed by two others members." He noticed Uno was staring at him. "But I hear you have your own story to tell?"

"I don't want to toot my own horn." Uno was cautious. Boris and Jet had not exactly given a nice impression of their guild. "People are looking for me, and I am looking for someone as well." It was hard to broach the subject, without getting into his amnesia. "Why are they looking for you?" Especially considering Cassius was already taking a risk with bringing him inside. "Cassius, can you keep a secret?" It was time to bite the pill. "As lord is my witness." Cassius swore, rather seriously compared to his previous behavior. "I lost my memories. I do not remember my name, or why I have these cards. Dreamworld Tech believes that I stole them. I think something else happened. To get to the bottom of this, I need to find someone named UNO."

"Uno? Isn't that your name?"

"That is what he thought. But Dreamworld said.. Uno was someone else." Alice told Cassius. "Yes. Maybe this other Uno guy can help him find out who this one is. Ever heard of the name before?" Emily thought it could be worth a shot to ask mister guildleader over here. "Not until today. Though I have a feeling that is about to change."

And then, it came into view. On the horizon, atop a large hill, sat a tall castle. "Whoa! It's real?" Eric had thought they were using figure of speech all this time, to make their base sound nicer than it was. "As real as it gets, Eric. With proceeds from our duels, we managed to secure this nice location. It was falling to pieces until we fixed it up and made it livable again." Cassius spoke with no small amount of pride. "But what about the old parts of the castle?" Alice was hoping to see a real medieval building. The way he talked made it sound all hollowed out. "It is still there. The actual base is inside the hill, at the the lower levels. Our mainframe is inside too. That might be interesting for you, Uno. The computer holds a database of every duelist known to the world. If you, or the real Uno, are recorded anywhere. We will get to know them. You came to the right place, friend."

"Oho? That _is_ interesting." Uno said with a grin. "Alright, Cassius. Your guild has my attention."

(To be Continued in Annex 009: Mind the Gap)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Spike Eagle

 **Cards used by Boris  
** XX-Saber Hyunlei  
Colossal Fighter

-  
Gottoms Second Call

-  
Descending Lost Star


	9. Mind the Gap

**Annex 009: Mind the Gap**

The road went up the hill through the outer gate of the synchro guilds complex. The castle itself was up above, the pickup took a fork into a tunnel and ended up in a huge underground parking lot underneath. "And you're sure it's safe? The guilds work with Dreamworld, don't they?" Uno had reservations. The company made the cards, the guilds had to have some connection with. "100 % sure. We're independent from Dreamworld, because we finance ourselves." Cassius readily exposited every time he was asked about things. "Where do you get the money from?" Eric already had his next question lined up. "We let people tour the castle during the day. Then there's sponsors, jobs, tournament earnings." Cassius ushered the others towards the nearest exit. He also handed everyone name-tags."Take these. They're temporary IDs for visitors. Don't lose them while you're inside, or you won't be able to go through the doors."

Beyond the sliding doors lied a more technologically advanced environment. Perhaps on purpose, the color white dominated this underground facility. The walls were stark, the windows spotless and the lights pale. "This place is kinda spooky, like a hospital." Alice preferred the castle part over this. "Yeah we get that a lot. In my defense, it was like this when I got here." Cassius had no say in design after all. "So what do you _do_ here?" In came Eric with yet another query. "Dueling mostly, in a controlled environment. See those rooms?" Cassius directed their attention to large open chambers down the hall to their left. Several duels were going on them right now. "Those are training rooms. People usually frown at public duels. That is why the guilds were made in the first place, to create homes for duelists. This castle is our main hub in this region, but we have smaller installations around the country. You can eat here, rest here, anything." It was basically a rec-room that could be used by duelists all the time.

"And what about the mainframe?" Uno was more interested in the promise Cassius made. "Of course. I'll send in a request. ..Or were you expecting we would go there directly?" He paused, reading the hopeful expressions on Eric and Uno's faces. "Oh. I'm affraid that can't be done. The mainframe is restricted for most people even inside our guild. I could go there, but I'd have to go through a lot of loops." And if he could not go in, they certainly couldn't. "Why does a computer need so much protection?" Emily was curious. "Private details, social security data.. that kind of stuff. It's no issue to Uno though. We can request a reference search. That might take an hour or two. In the mean, should I give you a tour of the inside of the castle? Afterwards we can stop at the cantina for food." He asked them now. "Oh yes! Ye.. I mean please.. and thank you!" Alice was looking forward to all of that. "I kinda want that too, Emily." Uno was surprised at his own patience. On the other hand, if he had to wait, he might as well entertain himself. "Why are you looking at me? You can make your own decisions. Besides I'm going too, I'm not leaving any of you alone." She claimed, while secretly she did look forward to finally getting something to eat.

"Hey guys. Mind if I skip the tour? I'd rather check this place out. All these duelists walking around it gets something going, you know?" Eric had something different in mind than walking through a stuffy old castle. "I don't know if you want to be unsupervised, Eric. It is fine by me but.." Cassius was guessing the others would have objections. "Eric, you do get lost in your own street." Alice had one, only because she knew Eric. "I do not! I just like to wander! I can handle it!" Eric fumed, crossing his arms to make himself look more fearless. "..Oh well. In that case, use this." Cassius handed Eric a dueldisk from one of the training rooms. "I can have this? Really!?" This was beyond what Eric had expected. "Its a guild disk, it comes with a virtual guide of this place. That way you don't get lost." The chief explained. "I guess that will work. Okay Eric, just meet us at the cantina in an hour." Emily was not going to wait one moment longer. "Right, got it!" Eric found the map on the disk already and marked the cantina's location. "Now, off to the adventure!"

Eric left the group, going from chamber to chamber. If it had been earlier in the day he might have seen some more duels, but there were at least a few duelists around to observe. _"Naturia, Psychic, Goyo; all these synchros are so cool."_ He did briefly consider challenging one of the guildmembers for a second. After his loss to Uno, Eric had reworked his deck from scratch. So he was not that worried about his chances. He had more qualms about the fact that he wasn't officially part of this club. For nowhe contained his excitement and just watched. _"Oh..damn."_ An hour had passed before he eknew it. _"Better get back. I.. hey."_ As he turned around, a shadow moved before his eyes. "Who was that?" A woman with long blond hair in a large gray sweater passed him by. There was something immediately off about her appearance.

She didn't have an ID-tag.

Whoever she was, she was easily walking through every door, leaving them all open in her wake. She was going places not even Eric was allowed in. _"How is nobody seeing her?"_ She crossed several people along the way who did not so much as blink at her. This person was not from the guild, or else she would have had a patch with their symbol on it somewhere. But she was a duelist, because she had a folded-in dueldisk on her arm. _"Should I call for help? Will people even listen to me?"_ The voice in the back of his head was telling him to do this on his own. She did not seem to see him either, as long as he kept his distance. Where was this woman going? Eric checked his map on the disk, but the map did not cover the lower levels. That was where they were headed, several stairs downwards. He tried not to make a sound, and followed the ones she made. Eventually there was a stop, a large door and a huge complex behind it. _"Maybe this is the mainframe?"_ For a moment Eric was struck with awe, and in that moment he forgot to hide himself. "You followed me?" The woman was standing there in the opening, glaring.

...

"I don't want to be the one who says it every time. But I knew he'd be late.. again." Emily and the others had finished their tour and were waiting at a table; waiting on their drinks and their friend Eric. "I am sure Eric knows where he is. It'd be embarrassing if he got lost with a map." Alice said as she absentmindedly played with the coasters. She was not too worried. "I could go check." Uno nevertheless volunteered to help out. "No need. If he is anywhere, my people will know about it. Sit down, enjoy the refreshments." Cassius stood up, just as the waiter came to take orders. "I am sure he is not getting in any trouble."

...

"Uhr.. I guess so." Out of all things to ask, she hit Eric with a question like that? "That is the thing, you shouldn't have been able to." The woman looked and sounded slightly perplexed. 'Yeah, what was up with that? Nobody else saw you.. Also, what are you _doing_ here?" Why the hell was he answering her? He should be doing the interrogating. "Oh, nothing you would find interesting, Eric." She tried to brush him off and walked into the door. "Hey. Don't ignore me! How did you know my name?" Eric paused. "Oh, the ID-tag..I mean, wait up!" He pursued. Both came upon a large hall with rows and rows of hard drives. This had to be the mainframe. "Whatever you're trying to do, I will stop you!" He saw her put a strange device on top of one drive. That couldn't be a good thing. He didn't want anything to happen to a machine that could help Uno. "I can believe you will try.. but how?" The woman left the machine alone and smiled at him. "I challenge you! That is how!" Eric raised his dueldisk and turned it on. "You're a duelist and so am I. You cannot escape from a duel!"

"..I could. I don't really see a need to honor this code you duelists seem to have." She tilted her head from side to side, letting her thoughts stir. "But I'm guessing you will not let my finish my job otherwise. Hmm, it's been a while. I'll have to investigate later. For now, while I let my machine do the work..." The woman activated her dueldisk as well. "You have yourself a duel."

Erics LP: 8000 Womans LP: 8000

"Don't I get to know your name?" Eric asked as he started drawing cards. "I can't give you my name, but you can call me June." She drew her cards too, and left the first turn to him. "Ooo-kay. June then, can't wait to see what cards you are going to use. I have these!" He summoned what appeared to be ghost of fire(4/800/1800). "Aratama. This Spirit monster puts another Spirit monster in my hand!" Eric used Aratama's effect to claim a card called Rasetsu from his deck. "Spirit monsters? If my memory does not fail me; Spirits return to your hand during the endphase." Spirits were never longlasting. "They do. They cannot be special summoned either." The flame of Aratama was extinguished and the card flew back into Erics hand. "But I'm not gonna give you a free hit." Eric placed two trap cards down. "Turn's over."

"Hmm. Two cards. Both dangerous.." 'June' traced her free fingers across her own cards. "Nope." She stopped at one and took it out. A green-colored emperor penguin(4/1600/400) was normal summoned. "Have you seen a Spiritual Beast Rampengu before?" Eric shook his head. "Interesting. You're not from a guild at all, are you? Well let me show you what Rampengu does. He banishes a Ritual Beast from my extra deck and sends A Ritual Beast of the same type from the main deck to the graveyard." The penguin banished a card called Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin. Then sent a monster, Ritual Beast Pettlephin, into the graveyard. Both were Pyro-type monsters. "Spirits and Spiritual Beasts are not that different. My monsters _can_ be special summoned. But only once each turn." Allthough that did not apply to the Beasts that waited in her extra deck. "I throw down a card in my spell/trap zone as a defense too. End turn."

 _"From the extra deck?"_ Did that imply she used synchro monsters or something else? Eric had no clue. The banished card had purple borders, which he hadn't seen before. This entire deck was unfamiliar territory. "Anyway!" It was his turn and time to strike. "I summon Rasetsu this time." A maneating ogre spirit(4/1500/1900) appeared from a ball of flames. "Rasetsu is so terrifying, he scares off any attack-mode monster on the field, if I reveal another Spirit in my hand." Eric showed June his Aratama card. This made Rasetsu's hair burn like the seas of hell. "Oh?" Rampengu was pushed back off the field and into its masters hand, as Rasetsu targeted it with its effect. "Now I can attack directly!" The ogre slashed through the opponent with its ethereal blade. "Yeah, liking that attack animation." Eric moved the turn to his endphase, and Rasetsu returned to his hand.

June's LP: 6500

"The trap did not even enter your mind." June noted. "Pff. Traps are gonna go off one way or another. Might as well trigger them!" Eric felt like bragging. Unlike her, he was not going to skip an attack just because of a few face-downs. "Yes. You do not let 'notknowing' get in your way. I could almost envy you." She drew her card. "Ritual Beast Tamer Lara, I summon her." Another longhaired blonde(1/100/2000) showed up. Only this one was wearing green tunic and cape. Also she was a hologram. "This Tamer summons Spiritual Beasts from my graveyard." Lara waved her taming staff around. Her effect brought a pink dolphin back to life. It was Spiritual Beast Pettlephin(4/0/2000), the card Rampengu had tossed into the grave earlier. "You see, Eric. Unlike you, I know too much.. Pettlephin banishes a 'Ritual Beast' from my hand to bounce back one card my opponent controls." In her hand the beast Rampengu was banished. On the field Erics left trap was targeted and returned to its controllers hand. _"That one?"_ This decision that June made without consideration, managed to remove his best trap. But Eric could still count on his other trap to stop her.

"And now.." The woman clapped her hands softly. "We move up a level. I fuse my two monsters." The dolphin and the tamer were thrown into a maelstrom of orange and blue colors. "'Fuse'? Now I'm no expert or anything, but.. can you just do that?" He could have sworn fusion summons were not as easy as she made it look. Yet there was a fused monster. "It doesn't even have any dolphin parts!?" The Tamer Lara sat on top a giant tiger of fire(6/2600/400). Where that came from, Eric had no clue. "I don't blame you for being confused, Eric. This is the Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio. His fusion materials can be any Ritual Beast Tamer and Spiritual Beast on my field, and no spell is required to fuse the materials. Though.. the fused monsters are banished." That much was written on the card's official text. So was another effect. "While Ulti-Apelio attacks, she becomes immune to all card effects." The Tamer and beast charged forward. "Did you say.." Before Eric knew it, he was run over. "Yes you did.." His leftover trap card could not stop the fusion monsters direct attack. Once the damage was done, June's turn was done.

Eric's LP: 5400

 _"Okay, she did not have to worry about traps with a monster like that. But how did she know which trap to leave alone?"_ The other card Eric had set was a card Uno had granted him; Ultimate Offering. With that continuous trap Eric could normal summon Spirits like Rasetsu during her battle phase, and remove her fusion monster from the field. _"I need too.. I need."_ Eric slapped his own cheek. _"Stay focused damn it. This is your time to prove that you can help!"_ It must have been getting late, if he was getting tired already. "I have to do it myself!" He normal summoned his ogre spirit once more. "Rasetsu targets your fusion monster! He.." His moment of glory was a short one. "Huh?" As Rasetsu tried to push back Ulti-Apelio, the beast instead split into two halves. Lara and Pettlephin were summoned back to the field in defense position. "...Is that what fusion monsters do, when they die?" Eric was hoping Ulti-Apelio would just go back into the extra deck. Normally that would have happened. "She didn't die. Any Ritual Ulti-Beast can retreat to the extra deck during either players turn. A banished Tamer and Beast are then resummoned to stand in its place. It's gonna get worse by the way. I activate my trap; Ritual Beast Steeds. This card destroys two of your cards, because I control two 'Ritual Beast' monsters." Lara jumped on the back of the dolphin and jumped over Eric. From above she fired a spell that destroyed Rasetsu and his Widespread Ruin trap card.

"Damn." He was losing control, fast. "I set two cards and end my turn." He tried to trick her by shuffling his hand a bit before setting Ultimate Offering down along with a random spell card. "I like how you play. But.. I am going to have end our fun." June reactivated the effect of Spiritual Beast Pettlephin. A second Spiritual Beast Pettlephin card in her hand was banished and Erics Ultimate Offering was forced into his hand. "Not again." He could not trick her aim at all. "It is unfair, isn't it? Oh well." The woman banished her two monsters again. This time the Tamer and Beast formed a fusion that looked nothing like its parts. This fusions tamer was an elderly mage. The best itself was a giant phoenix(6/1400/1600) of thunder. "This time, I summon Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk. Cannahawk recycles banished Ritual Beasts, to fetch Ritual Beast cards." The Hawk put the previously banished Ulti-Pettlephin and regular Pettlephin back in the graveyard. Meanwhile June claimed a second Spiritual Beast Apelio from her deck and added it to her hand.

She summoned this new monster; the base form of the lion, Beast Apelio(4/1800/200). "Apelio. It banishes one Ritual Beast in my graveyard to place a powerboost on the field that affects all Ritual beasts. Even those I summon later this turn." The red tiger consumed the body of Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin to strengthen himself(2300/200) and Cannahawk(1900/1600). "Direct attack." Cannahawk struck first with blasts of energy from her staff. Eric was zapped several times. "Gahh!?" Each hit felt strangely painful. Not in a damaging kind of way, but it felt like it was draining his energy. "What.. what is happening? "He was felt like he was losing the power to keep his mind on the duel. It was all slipping. Was it because he lost lifepoints? Apelio slashed away even more lifepoints. "Just let it overwhelm you, Eric. Forget I was ever here.. It will be better for all of us." To make matters worse. June unfused Cannahawk into Tamer Lara(4/600/2000) and the second Ritual Beast Rampengu(4/2100/400). They had to be summoned in defense position by the fusion monsters effect. But.. "Enemy Controller." June activated a quickplay spell card from her hand, which switched Rampengu to attack position. Eric was going to lose.

Eric's LP: 1200

BATTLE ROYAL MODE ACTIVATED

"!?" June's eyes darted to her left. A new monster came in from the left. "When my opponent declares a direct attack, I can special summon Speedroid Menko from my hand in attack position!" With lightning fast tongue and reflexes, the third duelist entered the fight. He summoned a machine(4/100/2000); an encased card that spun around as it was boosted by tiny rockets. "Speedroid Menko switches the position of all monsters on the field!" The Penguins flippers slammed into the casing and got no further. Rampengu was driven back and made to cower in defense mode along with the other monsters. "Oh. Another." June saw that the new guest was Cassius himself. "I made it in time. And I see someone else here who has a lot of explaining to do." The alarm began to sound across the entire building. The doors to the chamber were hermetically sealed. Nobody would get in or out. "I am not amused, madam."

(To be Continued in Annex 010: The Forgotten Testament)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Aratama  
Rasetsu

-  
Ultimate Offering  
Widespread Ruin

 **Cards used by 'June'  
** Spiritual Beast Rampengu  
Ritual Beast Tamer Lara  
Spiritual Beast Pettlephin  
Spiritual Beast Apelio

-  
Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio  
Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk

-  
Enemy Controller

-  
Ritual Beast Steeds

 **Cards used by Cassius  
** Speedroid Menko


	10. The Forgotten Testament

**Annex 010: The Forgotten Testament**

"I just had a terrible thought, what if I'm a vegetarian?" Uno proclaimed solemnly as he stared at the piece of meat on his fork. "You had no problem with eating a whole steak before." Emily noted that Uno was already done with most of his meal. "I guess. I will apologize to my past self later if I am wrong." Uno chewed down on the last piece. It tasted too good to be denied. "Hmm, Erics food is getting cold. Maybe..." Alice was about to make a suggestion.. when the alarm rang throughout the castle "Ah! Why does it have to be noisy now?" Alice covered her ears. "Sounds serious. Let's ask. Excuse me, miss. Is there a reason the alarm is going off?" He approached the first duelist he could find, a young lady with long red hair. "Ah? You're the guests?" She noticed their ID-tags. "There was a breach in one of the secure levels. I heard this sometimes happens, but this is the first time I have been here for one." She told them. Apparently she had not been a member for long. "Mis..uh.. Can you see where the breach was?" Emily worried about the one who could have caused this 'breach'. "Sure. Its Akai by the way." Her dueldisk created a three-dimensional map. It revealed the location of all tagged individuals in the area. "Uh-Oh. It's the mainframe area. Cassius is down there and.." Akai looked at the map and then at the trio of guests. "A visitor is there too." Only two people were detected. "Oh damn it Eric."

...

Erics LP: 1200 June's LP: 6500

"Battle Royal Mode?" Eric had been saved by his new partner. Up until that moment he had been unaware that duelists could even pair up. "It is a feature that allows guild-members to team up against each other. Tagteam matches, two-on-one, last man standing; it has all kinds of offshoots." It was thanks to the guild-disk that cassius had given Eric, otherwise this would not even be possible. "Then this is two-on-one, clearly. So what kind of handicap do you have to take?" June mused. With twice as much opposition, some penalties would have to be given to a duel intruder. Sadly that applied to Cassius as well. "You can see the effect already." He tilted his disk to the side to show off the lifepoint meter. It red 1500. "You lost lifepoints until they matched mine?" Eric gasped. Cassius shook his head. "Worse. I'm tied to your lifepoints. We duel as one. It was the only way I could stop her in her tracks. Eric, you did me a great so far." Cassius smiled at the kid, and then changed back to scowl when he faced this invader. "Who sent you? The Fusion guild? What do they want?"

"A lot of questions. I couldn't possibly answer them all." The woman gave an response, but it did not seem to be a response to them, or one at all. "It is nice to see one duelist sticking up for the other, but that has nothing to do with me. You will not find anything about me in your machines." Her monsters, Ritual Beast Tamer Lara(1/600/2000), Spiritual Beasts Rampengu(4/2100/400) and Apelio(4/2300/200) were all in defense mode due to Cassius' Speedroid Menko(4/100/2000). "You will have to lose with him." June re-activated Rampengu's effect. "Banish Ulti-Apelio and send Apelio." Another fusion beast was removed from her extra deck, so that a normal beast could enter the graveyard. "One things left to do, better not forget it." Tamer Lara was banished alongside Rampengu to recreate the Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk(6/1900/1600). "I use his power." The fused hawk returned both banished Ulti-beasts to the graveyard. In return, June could add a Ritual Beast card from her deck to her hand. She took out another Ritual Beast Tamer Lara.

"Here we go again." Eric grumbled. This deck was a real pain, compared to everything else he had seen today. But once she had placed a trap card down, he could finally fight back. The powerboosts from Spiritual Beast Apelio disappeared from it(1800/200) and from Ulti-Cannahawk(1400/1600). "Let me take the next turn. I do not know how battle royal turns go, but I want to help. Please let me." He did not want to look bad, he had to prove himself. "I will trust you, Eric." Thankfully the guildchief obliged.

"Thank you. You wont regret it!" He'd show them both what his deck could really do. "I normal summon Nikitama!" The groundwork would be done by Nikitama(4/800/1800) the green flame counterpart to Aratama. "With its effect I can normal summon another Spirit monster this turn! Even better, if Nikitama is sent to the graveyard while I control a Spirit, I can draw once!" Eric sacrificed Nikitama for a higher-level monster, a rainbird(6/2100/1800) with feathers of primarily red, but also blue and green colors. Because a Spirit was still on his field, Nikitama allowed Eric to drew another card. "My phoenix looks a lot more like the real deal than yours, June! This is Fang..Fu..Fenghuang." Eric nearly bit his tongue while trying to pronounce the birds name. "It destroys all set cards on the field!" Fenghuang flapped its wings once, and a firestorm followed. Flames as bright as the sun descended and scorched June's trap to ashes. "Now nothing can.."

"Hey!?" The trap was not the only card to be destroyed. Before Erics eyes, the phoenix spirit turned ashblack and then shattered like a statue of dust. "Ghost Snow and White Rabbit.." Cassius spotted the 'cold' that caused Fenghuangs demise. It was a little demon girl with red eyes and long white hair. A white rabbit spirit floated around her. "When did that appear?!" Eric had not seen June summon anything. "When she activated it from her hand. If you discard it, Ghost Snow can destroy a monster after that monster uses its effect." Eric had nothing left on his field, again. That was the second defeat he walked right into. "At least you are here to help him, and talk to him." June said. Perhaps she sympathized, perhaps not. It was hard to tell. "I can help him too! Cassius, I think she wants something from your database, she has that machine there." Eric pointed at the small device clamped to one of the hard drives. Whatever its task was, it was not done yet.

"So you're after data, our data. I do not understand how you got this far, nor why only Eric tried to stop you." Cassius thought his fellow members would've been more observant. "We'll have to remove your lifepoints before that machine runs its course! I summon a tuner; Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!" Cassius displayed more of his deck-style when a golden dice(1/0/0) with red eyes was normal summoned. "Level 1 and level 4; I'm ready to go for level 5." The die was sitting with its one-eyed side face-up. It exploded into a ring of energy, and the Menko machine synchronized with that energy. "Synchro summon Hi-Speed Roid Chanbara!" A larger vehicle came all the way from the extra deck, it was a kind of hoverbike(5/2000/1000) shaped like a sword. "Let's clear the course before take-off." Cassius followed with a spell card. "Shock Surprise! I banish up to two speedroids from my graveyard, to destroy up to two cards!" Both Menko and Red-Eyed Dice were banished, and two shots were fired at June's Ulti-Cannahawk and Apelio beasts.

"Split." Though the Spiritual Beast Apelio was taken out, the Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk could defuse into the banished Tamer Lara(4/100/2000) and Spiritual Beast Pettlephin(4/0/2000). "I knew that was coming. But Hi-Speed Roid is so quick that he attacks twice in one turn!" Chanbara blasted forwards like a jet propelled by a missile. "And each time Chanbara battles, it gains 200 attackpoints!" The Speedroid(2200/1000) powered up once, and cut down the pink dolphin with its front blade. Then Cassius made a second pass and Chanbara(2400/1000) tore through Lara as well. _"...incredible."_ Eric was awestruck by this display. Synchro duelists and Fusion duelists, they were in a whole new world of dueling. "I set a trap card. That was it. Your move June, if that is your name."

"It's not, actually" Was all she said before she summoned another Ritual Beast Tamer Lara(4/100/2000). Because Lara was normal summoned, she could special summon Rampengu(4/1600/400) who was in the graveyard. "Your Synchro monster is nice, Cassius. Too nice." June reactivated the effect of Rampengu. A random Ritual Beast card was banished from her hand. "It has to turn away." Hi-Speedroid Chanbara was ejected from the board and returned to the extra deck. "Now.. there is nothing in the way." June banished the Tamer along with Pettlephin. Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio(6/2600/400) made its grand fusion summoning entrance. "Crap. If that thing attacks, we wont be able to defend!" One hit was all she needed, and Eric could not count on Cassius' trap to save them. "Pity. I wondered what it would be like to fight you normally. Oh well-oh well." The tamer and tiger fusion broke out into a blaze, as the battle phase began.

There was only one opening. "I activate a card! Compulsory Evacuation Device! I return your monster to your hand!" Right now Ulti-Apelio was unprotected by its own powers. "Aha." But the fused beast could still split to avoid Cassius' trap. "Perfect timing, Cassius. Had you waited for me to declare my attack, you would have lost your chance." June had to defuse the Tiger, returning Ulti-Apelio to the extra deck and resummoning Lara and Spiritual Beast Rampengu from the banished zone. "Too perfect.." Slight annoyance could be detected in her tone. "Did you think we would roll over that easily?" Cassius boasted, feeling pretty satisfied himself. "I would have been disappointed, but you are making it more difficult than I wanted it to be." The Beast Tamer and Beast were fused to summon Ulti-Cannahawk(4/1400/1600), one more time. Ulti-Cannahawk returned a banished Pettlephin and Rampengu to her graveyard. June added a Ritual Beast spell card from her deck to her hand. "Still.. time is almost up." She snuck a peek at her device and turned back to the field. June placed the spell card face-down along with another card, then she ended her turn.

This was it. Eric had only one shot at redeeming himself. "My turn! I activate Monster Reincarnation! I'll discard Ultimate Offering to reincarnate Nikitama!" Monster Reincarnation, at the cost of one card from his hand, placed a monster in the graveyard back in Eric's hand. Naturally, that was what he normal summoned first. "Thanks to Nikitama I can normal summon again, so.." Eric summoned the Aratama fire spirit(4/800/1800) that had been in his hand for a while now. Aratama's effect scoured Erics deck for a Spirit to claim. "I'll add Hino-Kagu Tsuchi to my hand!" Eric took the strongest one he could find. "Then I activate the spell, Double Summon! I can summon Hino-Kagu Tsuchi now!" Double Summon added a second 'normal' normal summon to this turn, which Eric used to tribute summon his great fire god. Aratama and Nikitama were both tributed so that life was breathed into Hino-Kagu Tsuchi(8/2800/2900). "Burn that phoenix to the ground!" The spirit covered its fist with flames. "..." The enemy reacted as Eric figured she would, by unfusing Ulti-Cannahawk. The materials Lara and Pettlephin re-appeared in defense mode. "No problem!" He would just have to kill Pettlephin instead.

"Maybe a little problem. Spell card, Ritual Beast Bonds. With this I may banish any two Ritual Beasts to summon a fusion Ritual Beast." June flipped the quickplay spell card that Cannahawk had granted to its master. It targeted both of her monsters and threw them into a vortex of fusion energy. "What!? You can fusion summon during your opponents turn?" Each turn Eric learned something new and terrible. Lara and Pettlephin combined into something more logical, a young girl tamer riding the large dolphin(6/200/2800). "I summon Ulti-Pettlephin, in defense mode of course. This Ritual Beast cannot be destroyed by card effects." Battles could still do it in, but they would have to come at the dolphin with a lot of firepower. Hino-Kagu Tsuchi was just 1 point shy of making any impact. "Aaarghhh!" His frustrations had reached their limit. "Damn you!" Thanks to Nikitama's effect, he had drawn another card when that Spirit was sacrificed. He used that card now. "Equip Spell, Mirror of Yata!" The Mirror was equipped on Hino-Kagu Tsuchi. At least this way it would not leave the field at the end of his turn.

"Stay calm, Eric. Every move you make matters." Cassius tried to keep his partner levelheaded. It was thanks to him that he saw another weakness to exploit. "Speedroid Terrortop! I can special summon it because I control no monsters!" First he had to special summon a chain of toy tops(3/1200/600) that segmented together like a snake. "Terrortop's effect, I can add a Speedroid!" Then he had to get his tuner back. Another Red-Eyed Dice would do. "Hmm. I think I am getting the hang of this. I do not know what went wrong before.. but. It is all in order now." But June, who seemed to be talking to herself again, had flipped a second quickplay spell card during the summoning procedure; Mistaken Accusation. "Oh no." That spell restricted access to the deck. This turn he could not search for any cards. "You saw it coming.. How?" Now Cassius couldn't synchro summon, and his monster was exposed. "Are you with the guilds at all?" This woman was doing far batter than she should have, far better than anyone he knew. "Even if I tell you. You won't remember soon.."

"Would you mind saying that again?"

Said yet another man whose presence surprised June. "Uhm?" The owner of that voice was Uno himself, standing in a now open doorway, together with Alice and Emily. "When.." Just how many people were coming now? "I asked you first, miss. What do you mean, they will not remember soon?" Uno was not in a joking mood. "I can't comment.." She replied. But during the middle of her sentence, her hand convulsed and reached for her ear. "Huh?" Emily thought she something shimmer in her hair, an earring perhaps? "Nothing you need to know about." June's discomfort seemingly subsided, and she remained unforthcoming. "I'm sorry chief!" Now even Akai showed up down below. "I tried to tell them not to come down here, I tried to stop them, but they opened the doors from the outside and.." But when she saw that June was in the room with them, things started to make more and less sense to her. "Who..how..why is she here?" This person had not shown up on any cameras or maps at all. Only her own eyes could register the presence.

"My defenses are breaking." June let out a deep sigh.

"That is not the only thing that should be broken! Guys, she is trying to drain information from the computer with that device!" Eric pointed at the small machine attached to the larger ones. "Not for long!" So Alice ran up to it, detached it, and tossed it against the walls as hard as she could. "!" June cringed as she looked at the device. It had been smashed beyond repair. "Learned that from me, did you?" Emily snickered. "Anyway, the jig is up, whoever you are." She and the rest of the duelist all surrounded her. "June. You will come with us." Cassius was not going to let her go. Even if she won the duel, she could not escape all six of them. "Heh. I wouldn't get your hopes up. I got enough of what I came for.. even if I had to pollute the scene." June deactivated her dueldisk and dismissed the holograms. The woman had nothing to gain from continuing the duel now. "So, this is a goodbye. Maybe we will meet another time." Suddenly a bright light and loud noise dominated the room. "Gahh!" Everyone was blinded and deafened for a sizeable instant. When they came to, June had vanished.

"Where did she go? How did she get out?" Uno cursed. They had her, and now they didn't. This woman could not have gone through the exit, passed him. "She knew something! She had to... ugh." He took a deep breath. Uno did not like being this enraged. "What do you mean? You think she..was the one who made you lose your memories?She took them?" Emily could guess why he came to that conclusion. June had chosen very specific words to say. "Taking memories? That sounds a little farfetched." That did not mean others, like Akai, could accept that. Allthough she could not reason away June's ability to move while not being seen or heard. "No. Maybe he is right. I did.. start to fade away as I lost more lifepoints." Eric spoke up. "It was like I stopped caring. Like she got into my head somehow.. Maybe she was." That would certainly be one explanation for her impeccable intuition. "Argh. This is my fault. I should have stopped her. I couldn't do anything!"

"Hey you did a lot! If you hadn't gotten distracted, that woman would have gotten away with her plans!" Alice refused to listen to his negativity. "So what if you couldn't win?" At least they nobody got hurt, mentally or physically. "She's right. You did me and the guild a great favor, Eric. You brought a new concern to light." Cassius said. He was picking up the pieces of the broken machine. "..." It looked like it had tranceiver parts, possibly to send the data to a far-away source. Who knew how much it had copied before it was disconnected. "I do not know who was responsible, or what they wanted to find out. But our mainframe is still intact. That is what matters. This June person. If she is registered as a duelist, we will learn her true identity soon enough." Cassius turned to Uno. "Now. I made you a promise. Since we're all here, I might as well put in the request directly." Cassius opened a terminal. "Sir? Can we do that?" Akai asked. "What harm could it do? We can use the time to look for this June person as well." As Cassius put in the search criteria, Uno waited in silence. Would it be so easy, so soon?

"..Ah. I.. I am sorry." Cassius backed away from the screen. "I had counted on it to work, but.." Uno and the others could see the search results. There were none. "..Of course." Uno was not lucky at all. The database had nothing on his name, his face, or even the type of shades he had with him. "Heh. I knew all along it would be this way." There was nothing to see on there about June either. So he was just like her and the dueldisk he carried, a ghost in the system. "If we do not know, the other guilds probably won't might not even know."

"They know something." Uno stated. "They know UNO."

(To be Continued in Annex 011: Accept no Substitutes)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Nikitama  
Fenghuang  
Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi

-  
Monster Reincarnation  
Double Summon  
Mirror of Yata

 **New Cards used by Cassius  
** Speedroid RedEyed Dice  
Speedroid Terrortop

-  
Hi-Speedroid Chanbara

-  
Shock Surprise

-  
Compulsory Evacuation Device

 **New Cards used by 'June'  
** Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit

-  
Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin

-  
Ritual Beast Bonds  
Mistaken Accusation


	11. Accept no Substitutes

**Annex 011: Accept no Substitutes**

Uno did not sleep well that night. New figures occupied his dreams. June, Iria, the guilds; their faces floated in the dark like a murder of angry crows. One was after him, he was after the other, and the rest controlled the lands. What was with this world, why did nothing look like he expected it to? He did not know himself. Yet he knew how things worked. The earth changed.. but when?

The next morning, everyone met for breakfast. Despite the mainframe's best efforts, further searches came up with nothing. "Maybe we can ask mom? She knows people who would know everyone." Alice proposed the to-them-familiar government angle. "They would?" Uno snapped out of his trance when he heard her. "Yeah. Not because they asked us nicely, either. Five years ago they passed some kind of law to put every man, woman and child in a special registry. I didn't even know what a passport was, and now I had to get this." Emily did not have fond memories of that time. "Mom was there to help. Without her.." Alice cut her words short. "..I hope we get to see her soon. We're going soon arent we?"

"But what about that woman? She's important, for Uno!" Eric had a different topic. "If we run into her again, we'll need better cards! We should get them from a guild, or the shops!" He was no longer blaming himself for his failures, but his cards. In his mind, if he had stronger cards like synchro or fusion monsters, he would definitively have beaten June. "Who says we want to run into her again? Better question, why not just deck her in the face if she shows up again?" For certain problems, you just needed to be straightforward. That was Emily's recommendation. "But do you think it is a coincidence?" Uno finally voiced his concerns. "She shows up the night that we arrive here. And we know that she can somehow delude people, make them forget they ever saw her." Eric was evidence of it, the entire guild was. And if that was true, he had to find out if she caused his amnesia. "But how does she do it? Can she hypnotize people? Maybe she can do magic?" Uno wondered. "Yeah no." Emily was not even going to entertain that theory. "I think you should just stay away from her. Or else you might forget everything a second time."

"Good morning." Cassius now joined the four. "I hope you slept well. This may not be a five-star hotel, but we never get complaints." He tried to give them a calming welcome, but his voice sounded a little slower than usual. "Aaron. What are you doing?" This usually meant that he had practiced what he wanted to say. "..I tried to put you in the right mindset, Em, so you wouldn't panic." Cassius sighed. "I think saying 'panic' is enough to start a panic, if you ask me." In his own way, Uno urged Cassius to spit it out already. "I suppose you have a point. It's like this. The other members of the guild and I decided to inform Dreamworld about the invasion, which I did just a few minutes ago. They may be able to do something that we can't. I didn't tell them about you though." They hadn't asked, so he couldn't be called a liar. "But?" Cassius still sounded apologetic though. Probably because things were never that easy. "They still wanted to send people over here to search through the area. They might still think that you were here tonight." If anything, Dreamworld did not inquire about the four, because the company wanted to catch them off guard. "Then we have to go, don't we?"

"No. You don't have to do anything. This is not a black and white case. If you stay here, I can protect you." Cassius reached out to them, to Emily in particular. "You trust me, don't you Emily? The guild respects me, they will work with me to talk some sense into people like Iria." He wanted to hear her answer. He was waiting. "Aaron. I.. I do trust you. But I don't want to get you in hot water." She did not know what she wanted. Her sister already said that she wanted to go, Eric wanted to get revenge, and Uno wanted answers. But Uno didn't want the guild to get in 'hot water' either. "Emily, if the choice is too hard. Let me make it. I could stay. Or we could do it the other way around. Cassius.. Did Dreamworld say anything about this case to you?"

"They did not give me much. They're working under the assumption that this June person was part of a black market organization. Dreamworld has has problems with counterfeits lately. Maybe that is how June broke in, with a forged pass." And with the data from the mainframe, one could copy a lot more things that were supposed to be unique to the Synchro guild. "Then maybe, they're the ones. That woman, or whoever she works for. Maybe she tried to frame me.. somehow. I should be the one to look into it. _I_ should leave."

"If Uno is leaving, I want to leave too." Alice made a choice too. "I know what you are going to say, Em, but I don't want to. I want to help Uno. He helped me too.." Nobody was going to talk her out of it. "Alice.. you can't..." Her sister wanted to tell her that she should know when to let go. But Alice would only fight her more on this. She looked to Uno for help. He got the hint. "Alice. You're nice, and I am glad you want to help me. But we shouldn't take this too far." Uno's plan was to compromise. "I will take you to your mother, like I said I would. If, along the way, something pops up. Then you, Emily and Eric, can back me up. Is that okay?" That is how far he was going to take it. And he knew the girl wanted to see her mother as well. "Okay." Though she sounded disappointed, Alice went along with it.

"Then you are all going to be needing these." Cassius could see where this was headed. He handed Uno and the girls three synchro-guild class dueldisks. "It will be less noticeable than your model, Dreamworld will just think you're temps from the guild if you log on to the network. This way you can defend yourselves." Eric already had his abd Cassius had something to tell him. "Eric. If you want to become a better duelist, you can always try out here for sign-up duel. Or at any guild-sponsored location..Keep the ID-tags. Our doors will always be open." Eric did not open his mouth but he nodded appreciatively. For now, he was okay with leaving. "Thanks for everything, Aaron." Emily shook his hand. "I did what any friend would do. It was nice seeing you and I hope we meet again.. soon and under better circumstances."

...

All was said and done. The gang departed in their own pickup truck, returning to the big roads. Despite Uno's forecast, getting into the city was largely uneventful. Aside from being unable to contact either of their parents, there were no problems. Eventually, they found a place to park, all the way downtown. "Okay it's a bit far off, but this is the best we can do." The hotel where their mother stayed was a dozen blocks away, but at least they didn't have much to carry. "We're going there in a straight manner. No distractions.. Alice, that means you too!" Emily shouted at her sister as she started chasing the first cat she saw on the streets. "Aw, but.. it wanted to play." Alice couldn't ignore something that cute. Especially not when the Brandt family never had any pets of their own. "We will see plenty more cats, I bet my cards on it. But Emily is right. We need to make progress." As Uno was talking, he meditated on his options. "Do you think she'd want to meet me?" This could have been a moment to part ways, even if he did not prefer to do so right now. Emily agreed. "We'll see about that when we get there. Plus, you'd get lost if you wander off now."

So they walked down the roads, using the map on the dueldisk to find their destination. Uno was worried at first that they'd draw attention. But to his astonishment, they were not the only ones walking about like this. "This game is that popular huh?" Duelists were in every city block, walking around with all kinds of dueldisks. Uno saw a lot of wondrous things in this large metropolis, but that was the strangest of all.. After a while, the hotel was in their sights. Yet once they were inside, a new obstacle presented itself. "Brandt. B-R-A-N-D-T." Emily checked with the desk clerk. He told them that nobody was registered here under that name. Then his manager showed to tell everyone to wait. And so on. "You don't think anything happened, do you?" Alice did not like not knowing where her mother was, and that this hotel didn't seem to know either. "No. I think this place is just inept. Nothing we can do about it." They just had to sit and wait. The hotel just had to sort oit out.

"Hey..If we can't do anything here, can we go to the shop?" Eric spotted cardgame shop, The Vice, a few streets back. But he didn't want to bring it up until now. "What did I say about distractions?" Now that they had gotten this far, Emily did not want to backtrack. "You can stay. But I want to go and see it." It was not as if she could tell him what not to do, he felt. It was his allowance to spend. "I'll come with you. I can help you decide what cards you should buy." That was probably the last thing Uno could do for his friends. "..Well. Only one of needs to stay." Emily considered it for a moment. "Thanks sis!" But Alice, Eric and Uno were already taking that as approval and checked out. "Hey!"

Moments later they were at the alleged shop. "Hmm.. Now I feel bad about leaving sis. Maybe I should..oooooh. Look at all the stuff." The inside provided so much visual stimuli, that any guilt was quickly shoved to the back of Alice's mind. It had everything duel-related; from boosterpacks and sets to duel monster figurines and DVDs. "There are shows about this?" Uno was not even surprised anymore. "Oh hell yes. I hope they sell extra deck monsters here. The disk didnt show this place on the map." Eric did not know where to begin, or how much to spend. Inevitably the storekeeper caught on to his enthusiasm. "Ahoy there. What can I help you with? Or are you just browsing for now? That's cool too." He looked like a jovial fellow in his mid-twenties. Allthough his punk-styled outfit fit more with a man who was only trying to be 'hip with the kids'. "Do you have Synchro monsters? Or Fusion monsters!?" Eric knew what he wanted, and when he wanted it. Right now. "I do. See that?" The man tapped at his table, revealing three plates with symbols on it. "This store is guild-sanctioned." The first symbol they recognized; the white dragon of Synchro. The XYZ-plack had an symmetrical black symbol with wings. The Fusion symbol was a purple vortex with an eye in the middle.

"Awesome!... Maybe I should go for fusion? What would be practical?" Fighting fire with fire was the phrase Eric was working with. It'd also help him understand his enemy's dueling style better. "Don't you want something that looks cool too?" Alice knew Eric wouldn't want to play with something like fairies or heroes. "We can do both. Hey, storekeep?" Uno had a new plan. "Please, call me Vice. And yes?" The keeper replied. "Do you have a back-room for duels?" He assumed that people could also come here to fight each other. He never saw any duels on the streets. "I'll do you better... I got a basement."

Vice led everyone to the floor below. This level was for storage, but also for practice. "Do you want to just use cards, or try out the newest disk model?" There was an arena big enough for the kind of duel most people were used to. "We have disks already. I just want to try out some cards and see how badass they are in 3D!" Eric was, if nothing else, entirely overt about his desires. "Hmm. Fusions are not as generic as other cards.. so. Maybe some zombies will do?" Uno saw a testdeck that Eric would find interesting, it was cheap enough too. Almost too cheap. "Yes. Yes!" Eric bought it in a heartbeat. "Can I try too?" Alice did not need a testdeck herself. She was satisfied with her Mermails. But she did want to have some fun. "Sure." Vice opened the arena for them. He also gave Eric his cards. "Sweeeeet." Just holding new actual cards was such an exhilarating sensation. Gone was the Stonewell who needed to scrounge together a deck, now he could be a real duelist.

Alice's LP: 8000 Eric's LP: 8000

"I will go first. So you can attack first." Alice smiled. She did not really mind how this duel would begin or end. "I summon Mermail Abysslinde and I set a trap card face-down." Her one Mermail(4/1500/1200) would be his target. "Your move, Eric." Uno said. He hoped the kid had drawn what he needed already. "Okay! Fusion monster, check." Eric first made sure what fusion monsters he had. "This one needs two zombies as materials." Those were easy to acquire, but Eric was not sure how to get them on his field. "Wait. I remember." He looked at a spell in his hand. "I need this, Polymerization!" His disk was telling him that he could play it, so he did. "You got it. June fused her monsters in a different way. Every other time, it is done with a fusion spell." Uno explained. "So.." Polymerization was activated and Eric could throw any two of his monsters into it. "I guess I will combine Skelesaurus with Mezuki!" An oni-zombie and a dead dinosaur were mixed together. "I fusion summon Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon!" Eric took the card from his extra deck slot. A snake-like hell dragon(8/3000/0) with clawspikes all over its body was formed. Now this was up his alley.

"Creepy. What does it do?" Alice hadn't seen this card before, naturally. "Dragonecro.. just listen to that name.. Dragonecro can't kill, because it sucks the soul out of monsters!" That was how he put it. "Also." He went one step further and activated an effect from his graveyard. "I can banish Mezuki from my cemetery, to bring back another undead monster to life!" Eric removed the oni and the skeleton dinosaur(4/1700/1400) was what he special summoned from the cemetery. "Skelesaur is one of those gemini monsters." A Gemini had to be normal summoned after it was already on the field, before it could use its powers. This was what Eric did next. "I resummon Skelesaurus, now he can zombify its victims!" If Skelesaurus fought Mermail Abysslinde now, the mermaid would be special summoned to his field after her death. She would come back as a zombie-type. "Attack!" The Nethersoul Dragon attacked first and hit the Mermail. "Eeh." Abysslinde's soul was sucked out. She was not destroyed, but her(0/1200) energy was drained and her attack and defense points formed a token(4/1500/1200) on Eric's side.

Alice's LP: 6500

"I.." Eric was ready to attack with Skelesaurus, when unexpectedly, his Nethersoul dragon blew up. "Eh..What?" The card was still there, wasn't it? "It wasn't me." Alice had not used any effect to destroy it. "Then..huh?" Now the dueldisk was even giving Eric an error message. "It's rejecting the card?" Uno glared at the shopkeeper. "What? It shouldn't.." Vice was stammering, looking for an answer. But his eyes narrowed when he took a closer look at Eric's dueldisk. "No.. Guild-disks? I thought I caught up with.." He noticed a little too late that everyone was staring at him. "You gave Eric a fake card?" If Cassius' disk was rejecting the card, then it was probably even guild-sanctioned at all. "They don't know what's illegal these days. It's a simple glitch. I can fix it!"

"If you say it, does that make it true?."

"Of co... wait who said that?" The shopkeeper didn't even realize at first that it wasn't one of the kids voices. "Oh no." But it was a voice the kids recognized. That refined tone was exactly like.. "Iria!" .. hers. "She's here?" The woman from dreamworld stood at the top of the stairs, and slowly made her way down. "You children have superb observation skills." She remarked dryly. This time she did not meet them as a hologram, her presence was physical. "You found us?" Eric gasped again, making the woman sigh with frustration. "Is that not obvious? Or are you wondering, _how_ I located you? It was easy to do, we knew a relative of yours was staying in this city." She was referring to Mrs. Brandt. "Mom!? You saw mom? Are you the reason why she couldn't see us?" Alice did not want to think about what had happened between those two. "I was waiting for you at the hotel. But I did not do anything to her. What do you take me for?" Iria then directed her cold stare at Uno. "I did not expect you to divert your path here. Nor... did I expect to encounter.. a counterfeiter."

"Say what? You're accusing me of counterfeiting? Who do you think you are?" Vice huffed his chest in defiance. "Iria Silver, disciple of Dreamworld's Master." The flat response he got from her, quickly deflated his spirit. "Dr-dr-dreamworld?" He started to shiver and walked backwards. "There is no point in escaping. I already placed a barrier around this level." She was still good at making those. They hadn't even noticed. "What are you going to do? Iria?" Uno couldn't tell whether she was here for them or for Vice. "I came to meet you. But now that I find this.. questionable example of a merchant for our materials, I have to perform my duty." The woman unfolded the dueldisk that was hidden in her sleeve. "I do not believe in coincidences. This shop is too close to the site of the incident. There has been plenty of evidence of an illegal circuit in the system. It is time for us find out if you are a part of it, mister Vice." Vice almost seemed to calm down a bit, when he heard how he was being challenged. "You're asking for a duel?"

"If you truly sell official cards. Then you will have no problem using them against me without getting them to 'glitch' out. If not.. then these kids will see what happens to those who cross Dreamworld."

(To be Continued in Annex 012: Elementary)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Mezuki  
Skelesaurus

-  
Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon

-  
Polymerization


	12. Elementary

**Annex 012: Elementary**

"Give me a reason I should do this." Vice had a choice to face Iria to prove his innocence. "I think you should do what she says." Uno knew this woman a little more than Vice. It was not a good idea to say no to her. "If you comply, I can have Dreamworld itself endorse your establishment. If you refuse, I will detain you and investigate all of your assets. Your shop would be shut down, of course." Miss Silver herself made her terms crystal clear. "When you put it like that.." Vice grabbed a random disk from the stalls. That was the only good answer. "Are you just going to stand there, or are we dueling in the arena?" Iria had not budged from the stairs since she showed up here. "I am fine right here. It suits you to duel me from a lower position." Iria scoffed. "And what are we supposed to do?" Eric was slightly upset that they were all dragged into this mess. "Just wait and observe. Your time will come."

Iria's LP: 8000 Vice's LP: 8000

"I take the first turn!" Vice drew five cards. "That is natural for the lord of his domain." Iria did not care much either way. "...I think I'll summon Cyber Dragon Core, the spine of Cyber Dragons." Vice's first monster was a small mechanical serpent(2/400/1500), hooked up on red glowing wires. "Core adds a Cyber card from my deck to my hand; how about Cybernetic Fusion Support." Vice used the dragons effect on a spell card in his deck. Then he placed a trap card face-down and ended his turn. "Cybers? Those cards have fusion monsters, don't they?" Alice asked Uno. She knew a little about them, just not enough to see where this duel was going. "They do; some of the strongest fusions in the game.." Uno meanwhile was more curious to see Iria's turn.

"A fusion cyber deck is what I would expect from a man lke you." The woman did not sound impressed. "Fusion, Synchro, XYZ; they are all the same in the end. What matters is which deck is the most functional. I activate a continuous spell." The card that was activated, Return of the Monarchs, said everything a duelist needed to know. _"Monarchs!?"_ Now Uno could identify her deck. Vice could too. "Those cards? You can't use the extra deck while that spell is active! And Monarchs need to be tribute summoned. Where will you find a tribute?" Rarely anyone dared to duel without their extra deck these days. "I already have one." But Iria had the perfect response. She activated a quickplay spell; The Monarchs Stormforth. "With this spell, I can use your monster as a tribute once this turn." The floor began to shake. "Mine?" Cyber Dragon Core was sucked into the earth. "I tribute your card to summon mine; Granmarg the Rock Monarch." The ground split open and the emperor of the earthen element; Granmarg(6/2400/1000), arose.

"Two effects activate now. Granmarg, when tribute summoned, destroys one card my opponent has set." Rock spikes shot forwards until they reached Vice's set trap card; Mirror Force. It was crushed beyond recognition. "Return of the Monarchs, when a monster is tribute summoned, adds a new monster with a different name from my deck to my hand. That monster has to have either 2400 or 2800 attackpoints, and 1000 defense points." Iria helped herself to a Zaborg Thunder Monarch card. "I will use one more spell, a field spell." The disciple activated a strange card. A six-pointed star symbol was thrown on the ground, casting a green glowing ricle around everyone. "The Seal of Orichalcos?" Vice gasped. Any of Iria's monsters would gain 500 attackpoints while they stood inside this Seal. "I enter the battle phase, and my Monarch attacks." Granmarg(2900/1000) raised a huge boulder above its head and slammed it down near Vice. "I suggest you to use something more potent now, Vice. Your theory can not be proven with small fries." Iria's turn ended.

Vice's LP: 5100

"Fine, miss dreamworld. I will show you my completely legitimate fusion monster. I activate the second effect of Cyber Dragon Core. When I control no monsters, a destroyed Core can banish itself. It will then special summon a real Cyber Dragon from my deck." A light broke out from Vice's disk, creating a new image. The larger mechanical serpent(5/2100/1600) was created from the scrapped remains of the Core. "Then I normal sumnmon Cyber Dragon Drei. It is treated as a Cyber Dragon on the field and in my graveyard." This cybernetic dragon(4/1800/800) was thinner and longer than the classic model. "Everything is in place." Vice had a second original Cyber Dragon in his hand already. "For your Monarch, two heads will not do. I activate Polymerization!" There was the fusion spell, it targeted the Cybers on his field and the Cyber Dragon in his hand. "I fuse all three dragons to fusion summon Cyber End Dragon!" Metal merged with metal, the dragon grew in size and gained wings. It had become a massive sight to behold; a three-headed warmachine(10/4000/2800).

Nevertheless Iria seemed more interested in her own dueldisk screen than the fusion dragon. "I see. The energy from this process is lower than the one at the guild's location." Her device had analyzed the extra deck summon that just transpired. "The guild location? You mean you compared this fusion with June's fusion?" Uno asked her. Fortunately this time she was willing to answer. "Her fusion is what we call Contact-fusion. A variant, but it _should_ still require the same amount of energy from the holo-grid. Whatever organization that woman belongs too, it appears to have no relation to this man here." Iria finally looked at her opponent again, still with disdain. "June? Contact Fusion? What in the hell are you going on about? I kept my fusion intact! Am I not cleared yet?" Vice was getting angry. He wanted to hear why was this duel still going on. But he was not going to get anything from Iria, she was as silent as the grave. "You know what? Screw you and screw your boss. You dreamworld people think you can push us around?" Cyber End Dragon attacked, utterly annihilating Granmarg with three destructive laserbeams.

Iria's LP: 6900

"I must not have heard you correctly." Iria's words pierced the smoke of the destruction. "That sounded like anger to me." Her turn, she drew her card. "Anger reveals guilt." One card of hers was set down in the spell/trap zone. Another.. was special summoned. "This monster, Mithra the Thunder Vassal, can summon itself by summoning a Vassal token to my opponent's side of the field." Two female envoys appeared, wearing silver armor and a tiger-pattern robes around their legs. One(2/1300/1000) was the real Mithra. The other was a doppelganger token(2/800/1000) and appeared at Cyber End Dragons side. "It will be the tribute." The Vassal sacrificed itself, so that its similarly-armored emperor(6/2900/1000) could be normal summoned. "Zaborg the Thunder Monarch destroys one monster now that it is tribute summoned." Zaborg fired a bolt of lightning at the Vassal token, blowing it to pieces. "Yeah every king has its disciple. And your master has one with bad aim! You should have used that effect on my dragon." Vice chuckled.

"Do not lecture me, Vice. Your dragon's destruction will come. But not because of a mere Monarch." Iria also made use of her continuous spell's effect. Return of the Monarchs added a monster to her hand, a Monarch with 2800 attackpoints. "It will be destroyed by Zaborg the Mega Monarch." She placed the monster on top of the original thunder monarch. "Another tribute summon?!" Vice saw, Zaborg transform into its fiercer mega-form(8/3300/1000). Red devil horns grew from its shoulders, and his green hair spiked outwards. Just like its weaker self, Mega Zaborg could destroy one monster now that it was tribute summoned. Cyber End Dragon was the only target. "Level 8 monsters need two tributes, don't they?" Eric did not understand this turn of events at all. "Mithra allows a second tribute summon, if it is used as a tribute for the first. And Mega Monarchs can be tribute summoned with just one monster, if the tribute was tribute summoned itself." Uno was the only one who could follow this womans moves it seemed.

"This is the end for your fused dragon." A storm of thunder descended from above, smiting Cyber End Dragon where it stood. "This is also the end for your other fusions." Iria set her sights on Vice's extra deck. "My other fusions.. what are you doing?" Vice's own disk was ejecting card after card, exiling them to his graveyard. "If the destroyed monster is a Light-type monster, its master must take cards out of the extra deck. The amount of cards to send to the grave, equals the level of Mega Zaborg's target." Cyber End Dragon was a light-type monster of the 10th level. Vice had to give up on 10 cards. He couldn't even choose which ones. "Additionally, as Mega Zaborg's tribute was a light-type monster itself, it gives me control over what is discarded from your extra deck." Both Zaborgs were light-elemental, meaning Iria had free reign over Vice's precious fusion monsters. "No!" Vice had to stand there helplessly as the disciple took care of the rest. Three Cyber-Twin Dragons, One Cyber-End Dragons, Two Cyber Dragon Novas, Two Chimeratech Fortress Dragons and Two Panzer Dragons; those were the cards he lost. "Without fusion monsters, you can not claim victory." Finally, the emperor attacked directly. Zaborg made it rain lightning around the shopkeeper.

Vice's LP: 1800

"Whoa.." Eric thought he had seen everything, but he did not know regular monsters could be this dangerous too. However, Vice was not out of his special reserves yet. "Without fusion monsters? Pfah! Extra decks can hold fifteen cards! You only took eleven!" Vice still had two Chimeratech Rampage Dragons and two Chimeratech Overdragons. "I only need one to beat you." Vice started his turn and took his next card. "I've already proved to you that my cards are authentic! And now I will prove that I am the better duelist as well. I activate Power Bond and Cybernetic Fusion Support!" A normal spell and a quickplay spell were activated in sequence. The latter resolved first. "Fusion Support takes half my lifebar. In exchange I can now banish fusion materials from the scrapheap, if I try to fusion summon something this turn. And that is what Power Bond will do.."

Vice's LP: 900

"Eh? There are other spells that can fuse too?" Alice and Eric experienced another event for the first time. The Bonding spell recycled all the Cyber Dragons in the graveyard. "My next fusion needs two or more 'Cyber Dragons' as a base!" Parts were welded together; becoming part of a metal center(5/2100/1600) of the darkness attribute. "And yes, Power Bond is a unique fusion spell. It can make fuse materials for a fusion machine and double that card's attackpoints! Here is it, Chimeratech Rampage Dragon!" Three heads and three tails came out of the core's openings. Their(4200/1600) energy was boosted by the spell's Power. "Rampage Dragon destroys one spell or trap for each Cyber Dragon that was used to summon it! Rampage Dragon can also attack three times this turn, if I send two Light-type machines from my deck to the grave!" Essentially, the Chimeratech monster could overwhelm Mega Zaborg and Iria's lifepoints all in one battle phase. Not to mention, all her spells and her trap would be wiped out. "I've wo.."

Vice's LP: 0

"to..ry?" That was not how things turned out. What actually happened was that Vice's fusion monster left the field. "No. Nonono..wait.. wait." And there was a new monster on Iria's field now; a demonic emperor(6/2400/1000) of the dark element. "Did you not see what trap I activated? I used Escalation of the Monarchs, before it could be destroyed by your fusion monsters effect." Escalation of the Monarchs could tribute summon a monster during the turn of Iria's opponent. "I tributed Mega Zaborg to summon Caius the Shadow Monarch and activate its effect. Caius banishes one monster on the field. If that monster had the dark element, its former master loses 1000 lifepoints." That was how Iria won before she could lose.

"You prepared this. Your Mega Zaborg only left him fusion monsters that had a dark attribute, on purpose." It was Alice who noticed Iria's entire design. "And he played his part perfectly." Only Chimeratech Rampage Dragon and Overdragon would trigger Caius' burn effect. It had been Iria's intention to end the duel with that surprise tribute summon from the start. "You played me!" Vice had done it to himself. Of course, the woman had seen him add Cybernetic Fusion Support to his hand. She knew he would halve his lifepoints with that spell eventually. "Someone had to play, Vice. You were never even in control. And I do not rely on luck." She snapped her fingers and made a row of bodyguards come down the stairs. "And your crime has been determined." They came at the shopkeeper with cuffs. "But we finished our duel!" Vice protested and struggled. "Oh, my disk already confirmed your cards to be imitations halfway during that match; stable but fraudulent nonetheless." The best fakes Vice had kept to himself. Not even those could not fool Iria's machines. "Since then? Then why did you let the duel continue?" Vice demanded an answer. "Because you insulted _My_ master with your words and your actions. You had to learn your place, Vice."

"This is all Dreamworlds fault, you and your official stores! This was the only way I could keep my business going! Raaagh!" Not yet defeated, the shopkeeper tried to leap at Iria. His efforts were rewarded with a forcefield to the face. "Imbecile." Naturally Iria had protected herself. She wouldn't mingle with the rif-raff without her barriers. "Take him." Half-conscious, the shopkeeper was dragged of by Iria's goons. He swore to not tell them anything while his screams could still be heard.

When the silence came, Iria dismissed the forcefield. "So, our turn. What's it gonna be? You finally have me." Uno had little faith in any plan that entailed running away. On a certain level this was what he wanted; a chance to talk to this person. "What if she wants to duel again? I'm sorry Uno, but she was like.. wow.. unstoppable." Despite his new deck, Eric he had seen too much of Iria's skills to conceive of a fight where any of them could stop her. "Miss Iria, can Eric get his money back?" Alice did not even have her mind on a confrontation, but on the fact that Eric had been deceived. "Uh.. Alice. Don't think she's here to help us." Uno was positive that begging her for anything would lead to disaster. "But if she wanted to fight, wouldn't she have done it already?"

Before the standoff could be resolved, the duelists gained more company. "Guys!" Emily appeared from the ground floor. "Greetings!" And Zach was right behind her. "Em?" It was a rather unorthodox combination, even for Iria. "Creffield? This was not part of the plan." She hissed while Emily passed her to rejoin the group. "I found her at the hotel. I told her to wait, but she did not." Zach absolved himself of all blame. Except for the fact that he told her about Iria going to the cardshop in the first place, that was his mistake. "He was there? Where they waiting for us and mom? Did you see her?" Alice still wanted to know. But the question had the same answer as last time. "They didn't see her either." Emily shook her head. In all likelihood, their mother was at an important meeting somewhere. That was how it always went with her line of work. "Ahem.. Still waiting for an answer." Uno was prepared for a duel or a speech or anything. "What? You mean you haven't told them yet, Silver?" Zach said, mildly perturbed. "Tell us what?"

"I.. owe you an apology."

"Excuse me?" That sounded like the start of a confession. "Don't make me repeat myself." For Iria it was difficult enough to get the words out the first time. "I called you a thief. By now it has become clear to us that your dueldisk and your pendulum cards were not stolen from our facilities. We cannot accuse you of that crime anymore. So the first matter to attend to was that, to inform you of your status." This appeared to be an official pardon, albeit a vague one. "So what then? Are you going to arrest me for using embezzled merchandise?" Uno figured the next logical conclusion was for them to say his stuff came from stores like this one. "The master believes that this time it is better to regard you as innocent until proven guilty." Zach spread his arms. "Look around. There is a lot of evidence here. The fact that even this store is corrupt proved that the black market scene is bigger than we thought. Here we can start investigating. We can can also compare Vice's material with the dueldisk Emily Brandt left us." He directed a knowing wink at Emily. "You're welcome." She mumbled.

"That is how the master sees it, we can help each other find the real culprits. Yes, Eric will get his money back. And if he wants, we can discuss the proper steps to becoming a duelist." The way Zach spoke, one could think they were on good terms now. "Zach." Uno was aware of the risks. It was better to cut this guy off, than to listen to his entire speech. "If we can do things for each other. That is great. But you can do something for me too, you can tell me who UNO is."

"Do not presume too much, Uno. We have only given you a temporary reprieve. You are not entitled to anything, let alone our trust." Uno's question earned Iria's ire. He saw that coming. "Then you obviously have thought of some way for me to gain that trust." Otherwise, as Alice has said before, they wouldn't be talking but fighting. "Yes. The Master decided it." Iria produced four tickets from a case that Zach had brought with him. "What are these?" The tickets had no words on it, just a date and a coordinates. "Invitations for the upcoming tournament. They instruct you when and where to go." Zach said. "The Tournament? That was what those guys were talking about." Eric remembered that Jet and Boris had mentioned it offhand. "The guilds were already informed, now you know as well. The master wants you, Uno, to enter his tournament. Your friends may join as well, if they wish. But it is you who he wants to see in the arena. To be eligible, you must have a high rank, and be member of a guild." The Master was not making it easy, apparently. "So he wants me to duel, why?"

"Because we will be dueling as well. We will determine just how far you are willing to go, to get answers."

(To be Continued in Annex 013: X marks the Spot)

 **Cards used by Iria Silver  
** Granmarg the Rock Monarch  
Mithra the Thunderstorm Vassal  
Zaborg the Thunderstorm Monarch  
Zaborg the Mega Monarch  
Caius the Shadow Monarch

-  
Return of the Monarchs  
The Monarchs Stormforth  
Seal of Orichalcos

-  
Escalation of the Monarchs

 **Cards used by Vice  
** Cyber Dragon Core  
Cyber Dragon  
Cyber Dragon Drei  
Cyber End Dragon

-  
Chimeratech Rampage Dragon

-  
Polymerization  
Power Bond  
Cybernetic Fusion Support

-  
Mirror Force


	13. X Marks the Spot

**Annex 013: X Marks the Spot**

Their encounter started unusually, so naturally it could only end unusually. After all that drama and maltreatment, Uno was given an invitation to their tournament instead. "Well. That was that." They did not even want Uno's cards or dueldisk. Zach did however place a monitoring device inside the disk, permanently connecting it to Dreamworlds network. "It wasn't my first choice for settling this." The disciple could tell Uno wasn't happy with it. Iria was already seated in her limousine, so he had a chance to say farewell by himself. "It will be over after the tournament. Just be glad that you can do what you want now. You're not in Kansas anymore after all." Zach dropped a line out of nowhere. "Huh?" It was meant to be a quote from a famous book. Uno did not recognize it. "Interesting. You don't even remember that? Iria sees that amnesia as a cover, but I think you are on the level." Zach had made enough excuses for Iria's behavior the last time. "Thanks." Uno began to see why it was Zach who usually did the legwork. Under different circumstances, they could have been friends. "I wish I could help out more. But the Masters orders are absolute. That's life."

The disciples were gone the next minute, the gang was free. They did not feel free. "A tournament. Why would he want you to enter the tournament?" Emily had no luck trying to figure out their logic, nor did she want too. "It sounds like fun though, seeing all those people duel." Alice wanted to see it for sure. Whether she would accept the invitation was another thing. Uno was the only one who actually had to enter. Though he would not be the only one if Eric had his way. "Seeing? I want to be _in_ those duels!" He had scrounged up as much info as he could in the last hour. "The date and location will be announced at the capitol, it should be starting within the next three weeks. Makes sense, that's where Dreamworld Technologies has its main office." A lot of duelists called it the heart of all dueling. "In three weeks though? That'd mean you have to duel a lot of people, or join a guild." Alice remembered that Zach had left instructions as well. Only 64 duelists from the whole country could enter this tournament. Each guild alone had over a hundred members. This would not be easy.

"Em? Isn't that.." A catchy beat was playing inside Emily's jacket. It was a special ringtone that only she and her sister knew at heart. "Mom!" Emily hurried to answer the phone. "Mom? Is that you? Where were you?" She had so many questions and things to say. Their mother was quite overwhelmed. ["Honey, darling. Calm down. I was at a conference. I only heard about what happened just now. I would have called sooner if I knew."] Her voice alone steadied most of her daughters nerves. "Oh. It was work after all.." She passed the word to the others. The Brandts could breathe easy now. "Wait. You heard the story? How? Was it dad?" Emily guessed. ["No, it was your friend, Aaron. He called me to tell you about your new friend, Uno."] Mrs. Brandt revealed. "Aaron?" The fact that Cassius was making such calls and that her mother remembered Aaron from all those years ago, were both very surprising facts. "What else did he say?" Emily listened intently.

"Em? Can I talk to her too? Please?" Alice buzzed around her sister, waiting for her chance. "Of course." Emily handed the phone over after a while, and Alice chattered on about every fascinating detail of their adventures so far. Emily had to talk things out with Uno. "Mom says that dad didn't want to call us because his phone has been tapped. But Aaron claims that Dreamworld can't legally spy on conversations from the guilds, so he could reach out to both mom and dad." Without his truck, James could not do much of anything. "So your friend is helping us again." Uno had not expected that much out of the guy. He figured Cassius would be too busy with the guild. "Yeah. This means that if we want to talk to dad, we should call from one of the synchro guilds' hotspots. Mom could meet us there too." They couldn't go back to the castle, the sun would have set by the time they drove back there. "Then it sounds as if you have a plan." Uno was glad to hear it. "Sounds like it. What about you?"

"Me? Well, I still need to drive you, don't I?" Uno said quickly. "I don't want us to hold you back. We can take a cab if we have to.. Besides, shouldn't you at least go to a hospital?" They had put that off for days because of them being pursued. Now Uno had all the time in the world. "Ehhh.. I don't think that is going to do any good. What are they gonna tell me? I'm sorry but hitting yourself in the head with a hammer is not going to work?" Uno was not a simple case, and he had too many doubts. "Maybe you should try some hypnosis? I dunno, just an idea." Eric randomly suggested. "If you believe in that." Emily shook her head. She saw what really was going on here. "If you want to stick around with us, you only have to ask, Uno." She could tell he wasn't saying what he wanted to say. "I must be losing my touch if I am that obvious." Uno laughed. "Yes.. I do. I need time to figure out what I want to do." If this Master-person wanted him to enter his tournament, he would have to become close with one of the three guilds anyway. It might as well be the one that was already trying to lend him a hand.

...

On the map, only a few miles north of the city, was a golfcourse and clubhouse that the Synchro guild was a sponsor of. It would only take them a couple of minutes to get there with the pickup. On that trip Alice managed to run out of conversation material, and finally said goodbye to her mom. Eric still had plenty to talk about tho. He couldn't stop gushing about the tournament, and about Iria and her cards. "Okay, we're here!." Emily finally got away from all the talk, once they arrived at their destination. "Busy day.." A lot of cars were parked here, Uno noticed. "Are they going to let us in?" Ahead was the clubhouse. It looked really fancy, so much so that Alice was worried they didn't fit in. "If we show these ID-tags, they will have no choice." Emily trusted Aaron. He said that these Tags would work for every establishment. "Let's go.." The gang headed for the front door and Emily flashed the tag to the doorman. "Hi. We're with the guild. Can we use your phone? Uh, can we please use your phone?"

The doorman looked oddly uncomfortable when he saw the Tag. "Oof. You came in at quite a bad time, ma'am." He tried to hide it, but he was clearly troubled. "What _kind_ of bad time?" Uno inquired. "Weeeelll.. there's a dispute going on. Did nobody tell you? I do not know how you duelists do this.." The doorman diverted their gaze to the scene that was taking place at the golf course. The lawn was covered with duelists. "This morning, several members from another club came down here to challenge those that were already here. I usually do not mind the duels, but these people are especially disruptive to the other customers." The doorman coughed. "I've said too much. You may enter, but I am not sure if you are allowed to stay for very long. This second club is talking about taking over." He opened the door for them. "Another Club? What club?" The answer was right in front of them. Looking through the window they could see several dozen duelists who all wore the same black uniform. On their shoulders was the winged symbol of the XYZ-guild. "Oh."

"Excuse us. Do you know what is happening here?" Alice approached one of the men in uniform. "Huh? More of you? Haven't you had enough yet?" The man sneered at them. "Hey if they want to take on Adamant, let them." Another XYZ-duelist chuckled. "Adamant?" Alice tried to spot who they were talking about. The crowd had formed a circle around an ongoing duel. "You haven't heard of him? Are you kidding me?" The first member said as if Alice had acted the greatest crime known to man. "I should've? Can you teach me who he is then?" This guy he must have been important. Maybe he was their 'Cassius'. "I can't believe you have to ask that! Adamant is our leader!" The duelist was getting tired of being offended, so he just walked off. "Their leader? Damn, we gotta see this!" Eric used the opening to push onwards. "Eric, wait!" Emily groaned. They did not need another distraction, but she could not let him run around. The four made their way to the center. Here they finally saw some synchro-guild duelists; one of which was squaring off against the highly acclaimed Adamant.

Adamant's LP: 5500 Lambert's LP: 7500

Several turns had passed. On one side was Lambert, a man with a simple look. His white buttoned-up shirted contrasted heavily with the mob around him. The XYZ-leader wore the same color as his followers. However his uniform was more stylized and decorated. It resembled body-armor with various gold stripes and medals. His hair was grey and long, and his eyes were fierce yet dull. Most striking of all; his opponent was standing yet he was sitting. The leader had claimed a lawnchair as his own and conducted the duel from there. "You are taking this too easy, XYZ faction!" Lambert had gone as far as to overlay his entire field of level 2 monsters with a level 1 tuner to create a castle-sized and shaped rock giant(9/2900/2800). "Giganticastle gains 200 attackpoints for each non-tuner synchro material I used." The castle-sized synchro monster(3700/2800) enjoyed four powerboosts."I will be the one to stop you!" Giganticastle threw its fist down to the ground, all the way from up above, bringing Adamants lifepoints down by a significant amount.

Adamant's LP: 1800

But Adamants only reaction was to let out a yawn. "It would seem all you have to offer is numbers. You still have not learned that the more you build, the more you have to lose." Adamant slowly drew a card from his deck. He gave it a glance and frowned. "It is already decided. You cannot win, surrender with dignity while you can." He spoke with in inescapable authority. In his eyes this duel could only end one way. "I will never surrender! You will not take this place from us! You people don't even care about it!" Lambert refused him, and would keep doing so with every last lifepoint. "We don't. All that matters is the location, not the content." Adamant took that as a sign that Lambert wanted to be completely beaten down. "As you wish."

Adamant normal summoned his monster, a mechanical one-eyed bird(4/1300/1600), made from green and blue metal. "Maybe this time you will remember. I've summoned Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius. If it was normal or special summoned, I can special summon another Raidraptor from my hand this turn." Through the effect of the first Raidraptor, a second was summoned. "Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius." This time it was a dark metal bird(4/500/1500). Soon Adamant activated a continuous spell. "I shall use Raidraptor Nest. I take a third Raid Raptor from my deck, if two are already on the field." The spell added a second Vanishing Lanius from the 'nest' to Adamants hand. "Now comes a quickplay spell, Swallows Nest. One winged beast on the field is tributed for another in the deck, with the same level." Swallows Nest targeted Fuzzy Lanius and sacrificed it to special summon a third RaidRaptor Vanishing Lanius(4/1300/1600). "The next move requires little explanation." With the Third Vanishing Lanius' effect enabled because it was summoned, Adamant could special summon the second Vanishing Lanius(4/1300/1600) from his hand. "And this move.. less than that." Adamant placed all his monster cards on top of each other. "XYZ-summon.."

"He's doing it!" Eric got all excited. A lot more than Adamant himself appeared to be. "But how does it work?" This process was unusual even for extra deck monsters. All three Raid Raptors turned to energy and jumped down into a spatial vortex. "With XYZ-monsters you take monsters with the same level and place them on top of each other. That is called 'overlay'." Uno could again be depended on to summarize everything. Even this knowledge came naturally. "Then the Xyz-monster is summoned and placed on top of the pile. They become its Xyz-materials. Xyz-monsters have no level, they have a rank equal that needs to be the same as its material. In this case, that would be rank four." The vortex stabilized, as enormous streams of light escaped it. "Trap card: Bottomless Trap Hole!" Lambert though, did not intend to go down without a struggle. He attempted to banish the summoned XYZ-monster in a endless trap hole. "You are living in the wrong future, Synchro guild." But Adamant countered immediately with a counter-trap card, without even looking at what Lambert's trap. "Raptors Gust. I control a Blackwing. Your trap is negated." A sharp gust shattered the Bottomless trap. "Damn it!" The new beast was unharmed and unveiled, a machine-falcon of war(4/100/2000) emerged from the smoke. Its four wings carried missiles, its claws could break steel and gunturrets flanked its head.

"There it is! Raidraptor - Rise Falcon!" The crowd roared and yelled. Adamant did not need to introduce his own ace card anymore. "Only 100 attackpoints?" Still, it did not look very threatening in Erics opinion. "...Heh." Adamant briefly turned his head in the gangs direction. "He heard me?" Eric quickly shut his mouth. "There is one, who can still be surprised." Adamant turned back to the duel. He special summoned another monster to his field, a second Fuzzy Lanius(4/500/1500). "I do not need to tell most of you, but when fuzzy Lanius was sent to the graveyard, a Raidraptor that shares its name was added to my hand." Fuzzy lanius # 1 had activated its effect when it had been Swallow Nested, so to speak. "And Fuzzy Lanius can special summon itself if a Raidraptor is already on the field." These effects could only be used once, but before now he had only summoned the black bird with the effect of Vanishing Lanius. "The End.." Adamant withdrew one of the cards below his Xyz-monster.

"What is he doing now?" Alice asked this time. One of the glowing orbs that floated around Rise Falcon was absorbed into its beak. "He is using the Xyz-material to activate its effect. Most Xyz-monsters can only use their powers a limited number of times." Uno said as the effect in question resolved. "Gh-yikes." Out of nowhere, the Falcon(3800/2000) became the most powerful monster on the field. "Rise Falcon gains the attackpoints of the strongest special summoned monster." One of the XYZ-followers was all too eager to boast about the Falcons impressive powers. "That guy's synchro never stood a chance!" Indeed. Rise Falcon flew upwards and sent a volley of missiles into Giganticastle. "Damn it!" Nothing remained of the giant after such an infernal barrage.

Lambert's LP: 6900

"That was supposed to be the End?" Lambert had lost his strongest card, but he himself however had plenty of life left in him. "I would not take any hope from this, synchro guild. I activated Nightmare Archfiends some time ago." Adamant nodded towards his one trap card, which tributed Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius to fulfill a cost. "Presently, you own three Nightmare Archfiend tokens." Lambert was given a trio of terror demons(6/2000/2000), in attack position. "Crap! Rise Falcon can attack each special summoned monster once!" The synchro guild knew the score. The XYZ Raptor was already restocking its weapons. "And..those tokens." Reality hit Eric as well, because he knew the Nightmare Archfiend trap card. A destroyed Archfiend token would inflict 800 points of damage to its controller. "He really is going to.." Rise Falcon fired three consecutive bursts and killed all three Nightmares. "Gaahhh!" Lambert took 1800 battle damage and 800 effect damage; three times.

Lambart's LP: 0

"Now, Synchro guild. That was the last of you." Adamant did not wait for the finishing touches. He shut down his dueldisk as soon as his win was recorded. "My name is Lambert!" His opponent spat out as a last act of resistance. "I cannot be bothered to remember the names of all those who failed before me. None of you made a difference. And I have better things to do now." Adamant beckoned for one of his followers to step forward. The man held up an official contract. "Sign these. This place is now sponsored by the XYZ-guild. Tell all your people to leave within the hour." Adamant got up and left the guilds to do the rest of the work.

As he walked back to the clubhouse, he met Alice along the way. "You're sending these people away? Why? Did they do something mean to you?" He was caught off guard by such an obvious question, that he stopped without thinking about it. "This is our way. Their mistake was joining the wrong side." Adamant saw Alice's tag. He also saw that she had friends with her. "You carry the synchro symbol, but you are not members." He could tell the difference between a guestpass and an official membership pass. "Why are you here?" He was intrigued now. The duelists that came before had been such a bore. "None of your business." Emily was quick to brush him off. "Alice. Let's go." She wanted nothing to do with this guy or his club, even if it meant finding another place to call from. "Oh..okay. We have to go too mister. Goodbye." She and the others tried to walk away. But at the last second, Adamant grabbed Uno by the wrist. "Hey!?" He pulled himself free. "What's the big idea here?"

"You. You are the one I heard about. You were called.. Uno, I believe." Not just Adamant, but half his guild was now staring the pendulum duelist down. "You heard about me? I am flattered and a bit freaked out." Uno tried to play it cool. He sure as hell would like to know who told this guild about him. "Words spread fast. The news about the attack on Synchro's main base was passed along to all Guilds." A smile almost crossed Adamants lips. "Hmm. Yes. This could be good. If the rumors are true, you might actually be a worthwhile opponent." The XYZ-leader clenched his hand and raised it towards Uno. "I have a proposition for you. Defeat one of my top men, and the Guild will assist you in any way you wish."

(To be Continued in Annex 014: Another Unknown Soldier)

 **Cards used by Adamant  
** Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius  
Raidraptor - Vanishing Lanius

-  
Raidraptor - Rise Falcon

-  
Swallows Nest  
Raidraptor - Nest

-  
Nightmare Archfiends  
Raptors' Gust

 **Cards used by Lambert  
** Giganticastle

-  
Bottomless Trap Hole


	14. Another Unknown Soldier

**Annex 014: Another Unknown Soldier**

Adamant made Uno an offer, one that could be taken many ways. "Duel him? Uno, don't think about it! It's a trap, it has to be! If you lose, they will use that stupid Ante rule again!" It could be refused, like Emily would have done in his place. "No way! We gotta fight back against these jerks! If anyone can do it, Uno can! He did it those synchro guys!" It could be accepted, like Eric wanted to do. Though he was not the one the XYZ-guild was interested in. "But this is different. Uno, what do you want to do?" This was not like the time where Uno was dueling to give Alice her card back. If he was going to duel, he would do it for himself. He had to want it. "Heh." Uno took all their words in. He had to choose one. "I want to do this." He went with acceptance. "Beating one of them should kick me up a few spots on the charts. I'll never reach the tournament if I run away from every duel. Besides, I should perform my show for all the guilds at least once." He put his shades on. "Adamant. You got yourself a opponent."

"Good." Adamant smiled again. He gave a silent nod to one of the men in the crowd. "Yes sir?" The duelist approached and hailed his boss. "Engage this duelist. Use every available tool." Adamant stepped aside, letting the two face each other on the golf course. "Try to keep me interested, Uno. I want to see what makes you known." He sat down again, waiting with crossed arms. "Alrighty. I will use all my tools too!" Uno took his own dueldisk, not the one Cassius had given him. There was no point to hiding that from them. And he did not care if it was bugged. "Yeah! They're in for it now!" Eric and the others withdrew to give Uno some room. "Well. It might be nice to see you kick them to the curb." Emily sighed deeply. Hopefully it would all work out. "Don't count on it." One of the XYZ-members overheard her and could not help but laugh. "Your friend there is dueling against a Rank B duelist. That means he is only one class below Adamant himself. I think you'll see he has no chance, very soon."

Stans LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"So you're Uno. I am Stan. That will do as an introduction. Let's begin." Stan remained quite formal as he drew his cards. The dueldisks granted him the first turn. "I control no monsters. I can special summon Photon Thrasher from my hand." A knight(4/2100/0) stepped on the grass. His body was made from cosmic matter and his eye was a glowing star. For a second Uno wondered if his opponent used a Photon deck. "Heroic Challenger Thousand Blades." That wonder ceased when Stan normal summoned a warrior from a different archetype; the nomad warrior(4/1300/1100) with a thousand swords sticking out from its back. "Two need to be Overlayed." Stan used the now familiar XYZ-summoning process. "To summon King of the Feral Imps." What did Stan make with two warriors? A large gremlin(4/2300/2000) with lizard-like skin and spikes on its back. "I..didn't expect that." Eric now learned that it did not matter how the materials looked. You could summon whatever rank 4 monster you wanted if you attached the proper level 4 monsters. "XYZ-monsters activate effects by using up their XYZ-materials." The two level 4 cards were still part of the card pile underneath the Feral Imp. "King of the Feral Imps adds a reptile from the deck to my hand by doing so." Stan detached Heroic Challenger from the material-pile, sending it to the graveyard to activate the Imp's effect. A Kagetokage lizard card was claimed with it. "Set two cards. End turn."

"First turn XYZ-summon? Setting the stakes quite high." Uno could tell what kind of skill was expected. He looked at his hand. _"No Magicians, Uno. Well, doesn't mean you can't show off in the first turn."_ Uno had plenty of Pendulum monsters he could set as spells. "I set the scales, Performapal Cheermole and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Odd-Eyes was set in the right pendulum zone, Cheermole in the left. "So these are the Pendulums?" Uno had Adamant's attention. The leader wanted to see what these cards could do with his own eyes. "I am afraid this is just a sneak preview. The scales are not right." Odd-Eyes had a scale of 4 and Cheermole a scale of 5. There was no level between that, so no monster could be pendulum summoned. He did have a scale 6 monster, but he had no level 5 monsters to call out.

"Instead, it is Performapal Silver Claw's time to shine!" Uno normal summoned that scale 6, a silver-furred wolf(4/1800/700) with a bowtie and chains around his neck. "The Pendulum monsters have other talents! Performapal Cheermole adds 300 attackpoints to all my Pendulum monsters!" The mole's spell effect worked on Silver Claw(2100/700). "And when Silver Claw attacks, he adds 300 attackpoints to all Performapals." Uno began his battle phase. The wolf(2400/700) honed his claws. They were long enough now to cleave any monster in pieces, and that was what he did with the King of Feral Imps.

Stans LP: 7900

"That was all?" Stan took a hit so minor, it could as well have been nothing. "My Xyz-monster was better of destroyed anyway." The graveyard released a faint glow. "When I take damage, Heroic Challenger Thousand Blades can special summon itself back in attack-position." The hero of blades appeared in the space of the former Gremlin King. "Oh. You left the Feral Imp in attackmode on purpose? Well two can play the preparation game!" Uno moved to his second main phase and placed a trap card down on the field. "Now I end my turn, so that I can reveal the power of Odd-Eyes!" During the endphase, Uno sent the dragon on his right to the graveyard. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon searches my deck for a Pendulum monster with 1500 attackpoints or less and places that in my hand!" He used the effect to give himself Stargazer Magician.

"So your best cards have yet to show themselves? Hmph. _I_ do not have to wait. All my cards can share the same purpose; they are fodder for the extra deck." Stan normal summoned a spellcaster monster now, Breaker the Magical Warrior(4/1600/1000). "Oh no!" Even Alice would recognize that card. Breaker used to be a staple in many decks back in the days before the guilds. "As I normal summoned a level 4 monster, Kagetokage may summon itself from my hand." Stan placed the shadow lizard(4/1100/1500) on the field, in the shadow of the Magical Warrior. "My next move will be to activate the effect of Breaker." The normal summoned spell warrior created a spellcounter for itself. That spellcounter could be removed to destroy any of Uno's traps or spells. "It is your set card that I destroy." Breaker plunged his sword into what turned out to be a trap.

"Oops! Bad choice there, Stanny-boy." Uno shook his head. "I can use this card before you waste it. I activate Echo Oscillation!" A continuous trap flipped up, pushing the Magical Warrior away. "It destroys one Pendulum monster to draw a card." A loud sound echoed across the plains, and Performapal Cheermole suffered for it. "Sorry Cheermole." She was destroyed, and Uno gained a new card from his deck. ".. Apologizing to your own cards? How nonsensical, it's sacrifice was for its masters benefit. They all are." Stan pressed on. He overlayed Kagetokage with Heroic Challenger Thousand Blades and XYZ-summoned a second King of the Feral Imps(4/2300/2000). "Another one?" Emily said. This style of dueling irked her, and it did not look like Uno could keep up either. "This time, I add the reptile-monster; Jigabyte." Stan detached one card from his Xyz-monster to add yet another level 4 monster to his hand. "Jigabyte can be special summoned while a spellcaster is under my control." Jigabyte, the electric manlizard(4/1500/200), owed its invitation to Breaker the swordsman spellcaster. "What XYZ-monster it be this time?" Uno asked. There obviously was only one thing Stan would do with his 2 level 4 monsters.

"Not the same." Stan attached Jigabyte and Breaker, and he threw them into a green vortex. "I summon Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer." An avian gunner(4/2000/1500) flew out of the portal and claimed the skies. Castel was dressed like a Musketeer, so the name did not do it injustice. "Castel can either give up one of its materials to switch the position of a monster on the field. Or two of its materials.." His XYZ-monster loaded his musket rifle with both XYZ-materials. ".. to return any monster to his owners deck!" Skyblaster fired a shot at Silver Claw. "Eesh." Uno had to return Silver Claw to his deck. Pendulum cards could only go to the extra deck if they were sent to the graveyard, like Performapal Cheermole and Odd-Eyes. If they were forced off the field in another way, they would just follow their original direction. "Now, two direct attacks." Castel fired quicker but smaller shots from his rifle, and the King of Feral Imps threw his claws around. Both attacks hit Uno dead on. "So far, I do not find these Pendulum monsters to be very impressive, sir." Stan said to his boss as he ended his turn. "I concur." Adamant snorted.

Uno's LP: 3700

"..." As this was happening, Emily turned her back to the duel. "Sis? What're you going to do?" Alice was not used to seeing her sister avoid situations. "I m gonna call dad while I still can." With what she said it was clear, at least, that she considered the possibility of Uno's defeat.

Uno saw Emily leave from the corner of his eye. _"..Losing the audience, Uno."_ Any duelist around, whether they were Synchro or XYZ-guild, had a look of growing disinterest _. "I could use your help, deck."_ Echo Oscillation had not given him a good scale yet, and Stargazer Magicians own scale would be pushed up to 5 if there was no other Magician or Odd-Eyes Pendulum card to accompany it. "Draw!" Uno's fate depended on the next card. "...Now now. Stan, you should have told me the warm-up session was over." The fates heard him, he had drawn Timegazer Magician. "When I control no cards, I can set this Magician with a scale of 8!" He placed Timegazer to his left. "And here is his partner with a scale of 1!" Stargazer appeared in the right. Two pillars of light shot way up high, well beyond the clouds. "This is what you wanted to see? Well here it is! With these scales I can Pendulum summon monsters from my hand or from my extra deck if they are pendulum monsters!" Uno special 'revived' Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000) and Performapal Cheermole(2/600/1000) and summoned a circus lion(3/800/800) with flaming mane and tail from his hand

"Now this is something." Adamant actually stood up so he could get a better view. "Anything between the scales can be special summoned, and the Pendulum cards will return each turn after they are destroyed. If they fell into the right hands..."

"I like my hands plenty, Adamant. A magician never gives away its tricks!" Uno activated a spell card, one he could only activate if his monsters did not outnumber Stans. "Magical Star Illusion! This turn, all monsters on the field gain 100 attackpoints for each level that is on their hosts field!" Uno's field had 9 stars combined, so Cheermole(1500/1000) and Pendulum Dragon(3400/2000) gained 900 attackpoints. "And the XYZ-monsters get nothing because ranks arent actually levels!" Castel and the Imp King were unaffected by Magical Star Illusion. "Performapal Cheermole, use your power now and add 1000 attackpoints to a monster whose attack is already above normal." The mole did its dance to energize Odd-Eyes(4400/2000)'s spirit. "Time to talk about my next guest, Performapal Fire Mufflerlion. Let's say Odd-Eyes destroys an opponents monster, then Fire Mufflerlion can give Odd-Eyes 300 more attackpoints and a second attack!" The flaming lion made a ring of fire through which the pendulum dragon jumped. With this combo, Uno could defeat both XYZ-monsters and Stan in one turn. "Let's go for a Hole in One!"

"So that is how it is." Stan kept a cool head as the Dragon came after towards Castel. "You focus all boosts on your main damage-doubling main fighter, so you can end duels in one turn. How reckless." With a single tap he activated his set trap card; Fiendish Chain. "I only need to pin Odd-Eyes down, and your whole strategy falls apart." Chains were launched from every direction to entangle the dragon. "What the.." Uno could not finish the attack, Fiendish Chain negated Pendulum Dragons effects and immobilized it. "Okay, bit of a setback. But the show is not over til I say so!" Uno placed another trap card down and ended his turn. He knew neither of the Xyz-monsters could kill Odd-Eyes. And if Stan tried to destroy a Performapal, he would just bring it back in the next turn. The only thing that could turn this duel around was if Stan found a way to XYZ-summon for the fourth time.

"I normal summon Masked Chameleon. Masked Chameleon special summons a monster with 0 defense points from my graveyard." Stan had found a way; a chameleon(4/1600/1100) with a jewel-eyed mask. The lizard summoned Photon Thrasher back to the golf fields. "I assume Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is a one of a kind. Unfortunate, because Castel is not." Stan overlayed the Masked Chameleon with the Photon swordsman. He used them to XYZ-summon a second Skyblaster Musketeer(4/2000/1500). "But your dragon at least will serve as the perfect ante." Stan detached both materials from Castel. The Musketeer shot through Odd-Eyes and removed it from the field. "Ah..." For once Uno was out of witty comebacks. He said nothing as the dragon returned to his deck. "This is as far as _you_ can take your Pendulums. They will be of more use to us!" Stan went ahead with the battle phase, and the two Skyblaster Musketeers aimed their rifles at Uno's Performapals. Fire Mufflerlion and Cheermole(600/1000) were gunned down.

Uno's LP: 1100

"Not yet! I have a lifeline left!" Uno quickly activated his trap, Performapal Revival. "Since you so rudely removed one Performapal, I will bring it back to the stage! I summon.." Stan was quicker. He activated his counter; the trap card Wiretap. "There will be no more tricks. Wiretap negates your trap and sends it back to your deck!" Performapal Revival did not get a target, it scurried back into the dueldisk. "!" Uno's defense had been shut down just as easily as his offense. "Is this..how it is supposed to go?" He never had to deal with something like this before, not as far back as his memories allowed him to see. He was going to lose. What would even happen if he lost? Would he start to forget himself? "This is how it is when you duel one of us, yes." Stan declared the end. King of the Feral Imps shaved the last few lifepoints away with its claws.

Uno's LP: 0

"He didn't win? No way. It can't be over already." Eric did not believe what he was seeing. But Uno could not come back from this, no cards could undo zero lifepoints. "Uno.." Alice never saw losing as one of the worst thing in the world. But for Uno, dueling was his identity. "Hmph. Disappointing." For Adamant it was the opposite. Yet this victory of the guild gave him no joy, only more tedium. "I thought you could have been the one. But there you stand." He gave Stan a slap on the shoulder to complement him on his win, staring at Uno the whole time. "Perhaps the power of Pendulum was not meant for you, perhaps you just could not adapt fast enough. Regardless, there was a cost.. and you must pay." He stretched out his hand. "Hand it to me." Uno did not even flinch, or register Adamants presence. He had been like a statue ever since his last lifepoint ebbed away. His mind was still there, but his heart was beating slowly. "Or I will just take it myself." Adamant reached over to take Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. For one instant, the pendulum jewel tucked underneath Uno's coat started lit up.

"Wait!" Alice shouted unexpectedly. "Can you maybe... not take that card?" As she yelled, the jewel's light faded. "..?" Adamant blinked, unsure of what had just happened. "You think we're going to say no to a card like that?" Stan shouted back at her, but Adamant silenced him with a gesture. He allowed her to continue. "Those cards are all he has! He can't remember his past, his friends, his family.. If you take his cards away too, the.. then.. I don't know what will happen. Do you really need that card so badly?" Uno did not hear her plea and Adamant did seem to have a reaction to it either. Except, there was an hesitant expression on his face that his followers did not find very familiar. He was not the type to humor beggars.

"Adamant, sir!" One XYZ-guild duelist broke the tension by loudly calling for his boss. "They are talking about Dreamworld Technologies on the news channel. They're about to announce something big!" He got everyone around, regardless of what guild they were aligned with, to rush inside the house and stare at the TV that was mounted on the wall. Even Emily could not escape the announcement as she was speaking with her father with the desk-phone. "I'm sorry dad.. Need a minute. I have to see this..." The eyes of all duelists were pointed to the screen as the broadcast reached its critical point. It was a commercial that promoted a new line of cards, voiced over by Zach Creffield. The narration spoke about potential new archetypes that could be submitted before the tournament, and others that would be revealed during the tournament. Then it got to the interesting part.

"Next friday, the day before the 2016 Guild Cup opening ceremony, your host and master of Dreamworld Technologies will give a live performance of his newest creation! Introducing a brand new card-concept that will revolutionize the dueling world! These are the Pendulum Cards!" Several cards; half spell and half-monster quickly floated past the screen. Their effects and stars were blurred. Still, the idea itself came across. "We of dreamworld will demonstrate their unique and groundbreaking abilities! What do you need to play these cards? Come to the tournament to find out! Or look for them. There may already be certain candidates entering the tournament who have mastered the art of Pendulum. They may even be near you right now. Soon every guild can access this power, but only one can win the prize and access their full potential! The prize of the blank slate card!"

(To be Continued in Annex 015: Damage Control)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Silver Claw  
Performapal Fire Mufflerlion

-  
Magical Star Illusion

-  
Echo Oscillation

 **Cards used by Stan  
** Photon Thrasher  
Heroic Challenger Thousand Blades  
Breaker the Magical Warrior  
Kagetokage  
Jigabyte  
Masked Chameleon

-  
King of the Feral Imps  
Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer

-  
Fiendish Chain  
Wire Tap


	15. Damage Control

**Annex 015: Damage Control**

Though Alice, Adamant and Uno stayed outside on the golf course when the commercial hit the screens, they could hear what was said well enough. "The Blank slate. Pendulums as the prize." Only now did the leader of the guild release Uno's hand. "I do not understand what game you and Dreamworld are playing, but i will have no part of it. Keep your cards, Uno." Adamant walked away from him, passing Alice by along the way. "Thank you." She said to him, causing him to slow down. "That was not an act of generosity. Your friend simply has nothing to offer me, not anymore." He scowled at her. Being seen as considerate was the last thing he wanted. "Leave this place now. Or we will force you out." The deal was to let them stay if Uno won his duel. As he did not, they were now trespassers.

"Kgh. What an a-hole." Eric cursed once he was sure that Adamant was inside. He knew better than to insult him to his face. "Leave it, Eric. He's still won. We cannot stay here." Emily returned at this point. "Em? Did you reach dad?" Alice wondered if her sister had had enough time to make a proper call. "Yeah. He's okay. The details can wait." At least they had not come all this way for nothing. "Hey, you four." And there were still 'allies' here. "You aren't with the Synchro guild, are you?" Lambert had noticed their guest-tags. The synchro guild did not just freely hand those out. "No. But Aar.. Cassius is a friend. He showed us the castle. Please tell me you have other hotspots around here besides that one." It would take all evening to drive back there, which Emily really did not want too. "I'm affraid we dont.. now." Lambert shook his head. "This was the last location we sponsored near the city. Now the XYZ-guild controls them all. The Castle is your best bet. If you know Cassius, you already have all you need to get in."

"Uno? Yo, Uno! You haven't gone in shock have you?" Eric raised his voice to get a response from the duelist. "I hate it as much as the rest and if it were up to me, I'd take on as many as I could. But.. oh." It took just a few words, eventually Uno snapped out of his trance. "You don't have to worry about avenging me or anything Eric. Nobody wins them all, dueling would be boring otherwise." The performer put on a smile. "It still sucks what they did to you." Eric growled, his fists were clenched. "I think we both knew I wasn't cut out to be part of their guild." Even if he had won, Uno did not know if he would enjoy the help of these people. "Are you sure you are okay though?" Alice asked as she looked at Uno, trying to decipher whether or not his expression was genuine. It was hard to tell when ones eyes were covered by red shades. "Trust me, I am over it." Uno stretched his arms. His body seemed heavy, as if it had just woken up from a deep sleep. It wasn't the loss that ailed him. "Let's just exit this stage before they decide on an encore."

Adamant observed their departure through the window. He then took a cellphone from his uniform and took a snapshot of the group with it. Then he made a call. "Second, this is Adamant. I am placing an order for a background check. Name; Uno. Description; see the attached image file. I want to know everything that can be found about him." He listened to some words from the other end of the line. "It is important. They say he does not remember who he is. He could be one of the Enemy."

...

The trip back to Cassius gave Emily and the others plenty of time to talk things over. "So Dreamworld makes all that racket about you stealing their cards, and then they release them to the world anyway. Try and figure that one out." The immediate subject naturally was that commercial that had been aired. "It's not a bad play actually. Dreamworld can't arrest me for stealing something they didn't make. They also don't want people to know about Pendulum cards before they're official. The obvious answer is to push the release date so that everyone can have them. I figured they would try to do something after they let me go." Uno had already ruined their initial plan when he revealed the Pendulums to the synchro guild. This was just their way to neutralize the threat of leaks. "Aw, but I wanted to the second duelist with Pendulums." Eric moaned. "Eric. I don't know if I could teach you that much to begin with. Pendulum cards are not just my specialty anymore."

"No way. You're still unique!" Alice abruptly cried out. "I mean. You will still be the first, and nobody can change that. People are more than what they have! You can be whatever you want to be!" Earlier she had said that Uno would become a lesser man if he would lose his cards too. But that did not mean she saw the cards as a limit. He had more freedom than anyone. "Alice. I know why you're saying this. You don't have to. I _want_ to duel. I liked doing it, I like doing it." He would try something else, except then he would stray from what he believed to be the straightest path to his identity. It didn't help that the last two duels did not restore any of his memories. "That reminds me, Alice. Thank you. You tried to stop Adamant." Whether or not it was her that got the XYZ-guild to back off did not matter. In the end _she_ stood up for him. "Oh? It was nothing.. you'd do the same for me. Oh wait, you _did_ do the same for me." Alice blushed and laughed it off. "Ha. True. Back then you said you could have found new cards if you lost your old ones. I would have done the same.. Besides, I do have one other thing. Not quite sure if that is as replaceable."

"You mean the shiny pendant?" Alice had not forgotten about that. Though she hadn't noticed its glow earlier. Only Uno did. "Yes the shiny pendant. I somehow doubt it's something you can find in shops. Maybe that is worth a search. Aarons big old database can help with that, yeah?" He looked at Emily as if she had the answer. "Uh. I guess. Would've saved you a lot of trouble if you did that the first time. Or didn't you trust him then?" Emily remembered how Uno never showed the pendulum jewel to the synchro guild. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time. "Maybe we shouldn't?" Eric interjected. "Hey, what are you getting at?" Emily fired back, annoyed that Eric was implying something negative about Cassius. "The XYZ guild somehow heard about Uno. Someone must have told them. The only other guild that saw him duel was the Synchro one! So.."

"It wasn't Aaron!" She hissed. As far as she was concerned, this conversation was over. "Alright. Okay, he wasn't, geez." Eric gave up, though his suspicions remained. They dod not talk much for the rest of the journey.

Late into the evening, the truck arrived back at the underground levels of the castle. People were there to greet them; faces Uno had seen before and a face that was new. "I knew it!" One of those people was Mrs. Brandt herself. "I knew she'd be here!" Alice immediately jumped into her embrace. "Honey, oof, calm down." In appearance and demeanor she resembled Emily more. "You didn't sit in the back out in the open all day, did you? What if you caught a cold?" Though it was clear that she cared for her daughters, she couldn't stop fussing. "Mom. We aren't sick." Alice protested as her mother placed a hand on her forehead. "I'm sorry. It was the only way to travel." Emily and Eric joined the two. "As long as you're alright. But I never thought we would have to get together like this. Your friend told me what was happening, and I still do not really understand." The woman sighed. Then she noticed the man who was still in the truck. "So that is your new friend.."

"Yeah. That's me." At first Uno was a little reluctant to go out and say hello to the mother of two people he had caused so much trouble for. There just was nowhere else to go. "Don't be too harsh on him, mom. He is as confused as the rest of us." At least Emily was quick to come to his defense, and her mother looked understanding enough. "Hi." He took of his shades and greeted her as he would any other person. "Hello Uno. My name is Heather Brandt. I was told about your condition, I cannot imagine how that feels. This company must think they can get away with anything if they are going after those with amnesia." The righteous part of Heather flared up inside her. She had always been of the opinion that companies like Dreamworld were taking too much power for themselves. "Present company excluded of course. Aaron has been very nice to me while we waited." The guilds also often caused trouble for the government, but this one seemed to be okay. "Ehr. People call me Cassius now, but you can keep calling me Aaron, if you want." He chuckled. "...I am running out of ways to be grateful to you, Aaron." Emily said.

"So... You ran into the XYZ-guild. Lambert already reported it to me." Cassius took over the discussion from here. "I could have warned you. We knew the XYZ-guild was taking over our locations. I just did not think they would be bold enough to come this close to our official headquarters. The part that worries me is that they are not doing it for the money from the sponsorship deals." Whatever they were doing it for, it could not be good. "Oh they are bold alright! Especially that Adamant guy. It's like they are doing it just because they can." Emily spoke with as much disdain as she could muster. Uno cringed a little, as Adamants name came up again. "He was strong, too strong. They all are! Are XYZ-monsters just better than Synchro and Fusion monsters?" Eric asked. "They have been more popular as of late. They were the third extra deck type to be created. I wouldn't say they're better. It's just that they are easier to get out. Guild-wise though, the XYZ-guild has the most members out of all of them, and the best contest records."

"I need to become stronger then." Uno said with his eyes fixated on his dueldisk. "The surprise factor of the Pendulums is not cutting it now that everyone knows. I need a new edge. No that's a terrible word, I need a new twist!" He talked in a way that Cassius could follow up on. "Synchros would be easier to summon with Pendulums, possibly." They both could tell where Uno wanted to go. "But I don't have tuners." Even if Uno went with more generic synchros, he couldn't randomly toss a tuner into his deck of Performapals. "Oh, but that is where I come in! If you join our guild, you get the benefit of card creation! We can request Dreamworld to craft new card designs for us, and you will get them by the end of the week. A lot of guild members do this for existing archetypes when a tournament comes around. That is how most new cards are made. Any duelist can get his hands on a few extra deck cards, especially with those new boosters coming out, but through a guild you can get what you need the most. Even if there are limits to what we can ask."

"And what if you had a Blank slate?" Uno asked. "Oh yeah, that was announced again. The blank slate is one of the annual tournament prizes. The winning guild gets unlimited access to the card database and they can request pretty much anything. Even pendulums now, going by that commercial. Whoever wins decides the landscape of dueling for the next year. That is why the XYZ-guild spread out so quickly." With that kind of assistance, one could get pendulum tuners or pendulum XYZ monsters. "That sounds awesome!" Eric was naturally interested. But so was Emily. "It does. Dueling's fun, but it would be more fun if someone could take those killjoys down a peg."

"I wouldn't get too many ideas, young man." Mrs. Brandt felt she had to respond to Erics bravado. "I believe your mother is worried sick about you, and she wanted you to come back home as soon as possible." She heard all this from James, who she had called earlier today. "She did?" Eric gulped. "But I can't go back now! That would go against the entire adventure! I'm old enough to do what I want!" He was about to start a huge rant. Instead his mouth opened to let out a long yawn. "You will have to convince her, not me. Either way, nothing will be happening today anymore. It is clearly too late. I can stay with you for the night." They would have to see about further plans in the morning. "..Yeah. Sleeping sounds like a good idea." Eric granted her that. Being mad all day sure drained a man. "Well you know where the rooms are." Cassius opened the doors for them. They could sleep in the same bed. This was starting to feel like a deja vu, Uno thought. "Hey." As the others strolled towards their rooms, Uno waited. He wanted to be alone with Cassius. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

Minutes later, he and Cassius were down below in the archives. Uno had already seen the place, there was nothing worse he could do as long as Cassius stayed with him. Dwon there Uno told him about his pendulum jewel. Cassius scanned it with his dueldisk and used the mainframe to look for comparable images on the network. Theese results were also less than illuminating. "I am sorry." There were no hits online, this pendant wasn't just a trinket. Yet there was nothing to explain why the thing could glow like a lightbulb at times. "You're sure that you saw it light up?"

"Three times now. It's not just me, Emily, Alice and Eric saw it too." If it had not been for them, he might have accepted that he was a bit crazy. But he had them. "...?" This time though, he only had Cassius near him. And he did not witness what Uno saw next. "Behind you!" Right next to them Uno spotted a shadow shaped like a human, but only in between seconds. It was gone with the next blink. "Behind me?" Cassius had no idea what had spooked Uno. "You didn't.. Never mind. Maybe I am going crazy.." Uno rubbed his eyes. "Maybe you're just tired." Cassius humored him. "Probably." Uno lied. He was not tired at all _. "Uno. Maybe you do need to see a doctor.. or at least a shrink."_ He turned to Cassius. "I need another favor.. in the shape of a car."

...

The next morning, everyone regrouped for their second guild-endorsed breakfast. "So what do you think, mom? Is the food better here, or at the hotel?" Talk started light. "You shouldn't really compare the two, Alice. If it is good, it is good. Also do not play with your food." Heather was a little out of her comfort zone, but she made it work and got some mothering in as well. "Ahem." Eventually one of them touched upon a delicate subject. "Mom. I have something to say, something I hope you and dad will understand." Emily cleared her throat. "What is it dear?" Her mother inquired. "I want to join this guild." Her daughter declared. "What?" It was the other daughter who had the first reaction, she was shocked. "Sis? Why?" Alice appeared to be more confused than their mother. Not that Mrs. Brandt could empathize completely either. "Join them? Is that possible?" Only Eric seemed to be on board. "Yeah it is! That Cassius guy said so!"

"I did." Cassius took this moment to show his face. He had a knack for timing. "You want to join, Em? Did I get that right?" He was very happy to hear it. "I do. Hear me out, mom, sis.. I owe Aaron. He did a lot for us, so I want to repay him. Those XYZ-people are giving him trouble and taking members and stuff away. And they're gonna win the tournament too at this rate. So if I can even it out just a little.. Also, I really.. really, want to duel those jerks and show 'em what for. I saw what duelings has become and I dont want them to win and make it even worse." This was the quickest way to fixing the flaws with her deck, and this was probably the best guild to join. "There's the duelist inside you. You love the game enough to stand up for it." Cassius clapped his hands. "Mrs. Brandt, you do not have to worry about this affecting her life. Being member of the guild is more of a hobby than an obligation. She can still live where she want, go to school where she wants. This just allows me to help her, as one duelists to another."

"As for how you do it. You can either take on a few members in regular matches. Or you can try and shoot for a high rank with a duel against yours truly." Cassius pointed at himself. "Me? Against you?" Emily did not expect him to offer that. "Sure. If you can defeat me, your rank would rise rapidly. Though, a match against the top guild duelist entails special rules. The challenge does not have to be done right now though." They both needed time to prepare decks after all. "Today 's good. You're good, Aaron." Emily insisted nonetheless. "But, Em, that guy is really tough! You think you can beat him?" Having seen Cassius in a duel, Eric could not give Emily good odds. "It has to be him. I don't know his deck, but I know the duelist." Cassius could not have changed that much play-wise, no matter how many years he had been a member of this guild. "And I know you, dear. You really want this, don't you?" For Heather, that was more than enough. Her daughter had her consent. "Thanks mom."

"Aaron? Have you seen Uno by the way?" Alice asked, as Uno had not been this late for breakfast yesterday. "He had to do something, on his own. So I gave him one of our cars and he drove off. He also said you don't need to worry. He'll be back before the end of the day." What Cassius didn't say was where Uno was going. Uno did not want him to tell the others that he was going to look for answers by himself. And he was not actually sure when he'd come back.

(To be Continued in Annex 016: Slow and Steady)


	16. Slow and Steady

**Annex 016: Slow and Steady**

Two hours or so was how much time Emily took to prepare her deck. After that she and her family and friends went into the training room. The rest of the synchro guild also turned up to witness this duel, since Cassius was her opponent. Only Uno did not show. He had yet to return. "I've decided to run with a turn limit challenge. Each player starts with 10000 lifepoints. Whichever duelist has the most amount of lifepoints left after six turns, wins. So hold nothing back. As much as I would love for you to join us, you still have to prove yourself to the rest of the guild. Now that I have set this ultimatum, you may decide who gets the first tyurn." With a system like this, most players would want to take the second turn. "I go first." Emily placed one monster down and one trap card to show that she claimed the first turn instead. "Yo, Em! What are you doing? Now you get less attacks than he does!" Eric had 'loud' issues with her choice, though he was a bit late with that. "I'm not going to be careless, Eric. I work better by letting the attacks come to me. Also, this has 'trap' written all over it."

Cassius LP: 10000 Emily: 10000

"You think I would trap you? I promised I wouldn't edit my own deck to counteract yours. I never asked what deck you'd be using." In older times, Emily used mostly reactive/defensive decks. "Then let's even things out, seeing as how Eric kept talking up your Speedroid deck. I'm using Superheavy Samurais." Emily bluntly admitted. "Oh? That is a surprise. Not much has changed. Then, let's begin." Cassius drew his card. "When I control no monsters, I can special summon Speedroid Terrortop." He opened with the spinningtop toy-snake(3/1200/600). "Terrortops effect activates. I can add a speedroid to my hand." Cassius took the tuner of his equation out of the deck. "Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice!" He normal summoned this roid; a four-sided dice(3/300/1500) with one eye on each side. "I synchro summon a level 6 monster!" Terrortop and Tri-Eyed Dice were mixed together. Their stars of energy created a machine that largely resembled a sword and ball toy(6/2200/1600). "Hi-Speedroid Kendama! Emily, I'm afraid the first hit is still mine." Cassius removed Speedroid Terrortop from his graveyard. "Kendama can banish one speedroid each turn, to inflict 500 points of damage!" The machine fired a small blast at its opponent.

Emily's LP: 9500

"You would have taken the first hit anyway, with a monster like that." Emily was not going to fret over a measly 500 lifepoints. "Correct. However, now I am also going to make a second strike." Cassius had the second turn, and thus the first battle phase. "Kendama will also always inflict piercing damage when it attacks defending monsters!" The Hi-Speedroid flew forwards and impaled Emily's facedown monster with the dagger tip of its body. "Heh. That's fair." Emily's monster was a big rat(4/1400/1450) with average defense points. It died and she lost more life.

Emily's LP: 8750

"But do you know the consequences of that? When you kill 'Giant Rat' I can summon any earth monster with 1500 or less attackpoints from my deck!" Her smile grew very wide as the Giant Rat special summoned Emily's ace warrior; Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei(8/1000/3500). "1500 attackpoints is not much, but 3500 is!" Benkei could use its defense to attack others. It even switched itself to defense position as soon as it was summoned. Now she had the heavy hitter. "Well that makes sense." Cassius was familiar with Superheavy Samurais, but he had never seen anyone summon Big Benkei this way before. Mostly because the Samurais were not that popular in the tournament circuit. "I will set two cards and pass the turn back to you."

"Thanks, Aaron." Emily had waited long enough for her first battle phase. "I summon this guy, Blue Brawler." A steampowered machine-warrior(3/0/2000) landed on the floor with a heavy thud. "Brawler goes to defense mode whenever I summon him. Also he can't be destroyed as a result of battle." The Samurai crossed its stomping arms, yet it still looked ready to fight. "Thanks to Big Benkei, all Superheavy Samurais I control can attack with their defense! Big Benkei will go first!" Steam blasted from the back of the Big Samurai as he charged towards Hi-Speed Roid Kendama. "Oh, you're a bit too slow, Emily!" Cassius waited until the two monsters clashed weapons to spring his trap. "Quickplay Spell card: Limiter Removal! My machine's attackpoints are doubled!" The Kendama vanished in an instant and re-appeared behind Benkei. It(4400/1500) charged a counterattack. "You sure about that, Aaron?" Within the same damage step, Emily flipped her own trap card. "D2 Shield! I double the defense points of my monster!" Benkei(1000/7000) turned around and glared at the HiSpeedroid. The blast bounced harmlessly off its metal armor. "Oh." Kendama's time was up, Cassius' synchro monster was cleaved down the middle by the Samurai's weapon.

Cassius' LP: 7400

"Looks like I am winning now, Aaron!" While she still was in a good mood, Emily called out her second attack. The Blue Brawler came for Cassius himself. "Fortunately. But I'm going to have to keep the gap 'manageable'!" Cassius banished yet another card from his graveyard. "I can remove Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice! It's effect will negate one of your attacks!" The Die was thrown against Blue Brawler, stopping it in its tracks. "Heh. I knew that Dice could do that, but you didn't use it against my first attack eh?" Emily ended the battle phase. "I know you, you always try to trip me up. I would have taken the damage if you had defended on the first attack, and countered the second. You're still the same."

"Well now. Your sister's not half bad." In the audience stand, a familiar face joined the crowd at this point; Jet the blackwing duelist. "Not that she 's going to win though." He chuckled. "If she loses, she can try again. Emily will never give up." Alice argued. Her sisters blockheadedness was well documented. "Meh. Maybe she will get it eventually. Everyone gets lucky sometime. And then I suppose it is your turn to try eh?" Jet asked, still with a wry grin on his face. "No. I don't want to join your club." She claimed. "Is that so? I think you're just too scared to try." The duelist scoffed. "Why are you here?" Mrs. Brandt intervened. She did not like this mans tone. "Oh, pardon me madam. I just came to deliver a message. I was looking for the chief, but he is busy. So, I will just leave it here." He waved around a print-out. "This was emailed to our address this morning, I think your friend Uno will find it interesting." Heather took it. "Was that all?" She would give it to Cassius later. "As far as I care yeah. Have fun!" He sauntered off. He had no investment in this duel or in the message. "..Tch, that guy." Eric spat.

"I activate the effect of my synchro monster in the graveyard! Hi-Speedroid Kendama can special summon itself to the field!" The Kendama machine(2200/1600) came back in attack mode, after it was destroyed only one turn ago. "I cannot activate its other effect this turn. I can't normal summon or set monsters either. Special summons on the other hand.." Cassius summoned a toy helicopter robot(3/600/1200) from his hand. "When I control a wind-type monster, Speedroid Taketomborg can be called out." All speedroids were wind-attribute machines, so all he required was the HiSpeedroid. "Taketomborg can be tributed to summon a speedroid tuner monster from my deck. Though I can only summon wind-monsters for the rest of the turn now." Cassius exchanged the Taketon robot for his golden six-sided dice(1/0/0). "Speedroid Red-Eyed Dice!" Now that he had a speedroid in his graveyard, Cassius could begin the next stage of his plan. "I play Shock Surprise! I remove a speedroid to destroy a card you control!" Taketomborg was banished by the spell, and a shot was fired directly at Big Benkei. That was the obvious target.

"Not gonna happen, Aaron!" Emily responded by discarding a monster from her hand. "I activate Superheavy Samurai Soulfire Suit!" An armor of fire covered the Heavy Samurai(1000/2700). The shot was absorbed by the flames. "Soulfire Suit's effect can be triggered when it is in my hand. This turn it takes 800 defense points away from a Superheavy Samurai, but it also makes that samurai indestructible." Attacks and effects would not kill Big Benkei until his turn was over. "Aha. That is the real strength of the Samurais, their hand-traps." Cassius answered with his own trap, just as he started his battle phase. "Speed Turn! I can reduce a monsters defense and attack to zero! I target your Brawler!" Kendama flew away at the speed of sound, creating a sonic boom. The armor of Superheavy Samurai Blue Brawler (0/0) was cracked by the noise. "And of course, I attack it!" Kendama stabbed the samurai from behind. Because of its own effect, the Brawler did not die. But Kendama could still inflict piercing damage.

Emily's LP: 6550

 _Speed Turn, Normal Trap  
_ _If you control a "Speedroid" monster: you can target 1 monster on the field; reduce its ATK and DEF to 0 until the end of the turn._

"Hey, you said Kendama could not activate effects anymore!" Eric shouted. "Yes. But its piercing power is not an effect you 'activate'. That is the difference between trigger and continuous effects, Eric." Cassius shifted to the second main phase. "Now I'll tune Red-Eyed Dice with Kendama! Earlier I activated its effect, which can give a speedroid any level from 1 to 6!" When Red-Eyed Dice was summoned, it used its effect to modify the level of Kendama(5/2200/1600). "I synchro summon Stardust Charge Warrior, in defense mode!" The Hi-Speed synchro and the golden dice had a combined six level stars. The two became materials for a warrior(5/2000/1300) in white armor that resembled a dragon. "Stardust?" Emily did not expect a non-speedroid synchro at this point. But it was a wind-type warrior, so it bypassed Taketomborgs restrictions. "A synchro summoned Charge Warrior draws one card for me." Cassius took the card from his deck. He smiled as he saw what it was. "I set this card and end my turn."

"You think you're gonna avoid damage by defending?" Emily drew her next card and summoned it. It was the Superheavy Samurai Swordsman(3/1000/1800), who switched himself to defense position. "Not if I keep pumping out samurais!" Now she had three attackers, Speed Turns de-boost no longer affected the Brawler(0/2000) either. "The Swordman attacks!" Any of her cards could destroy his. Unfortunately, Cassius had a better way to trip her up this turn. "Follow Wing!" A continuous trap card targeted Cassius' monster. The mechanical wings of Stardust turned into wings of pure energy. "Any monster that battles my Synchro monster is destroyed at the start of the damage step!" It was too late to cancel the attack now. "Ah hell.." The 'wings' impaled the Swordsman and burned it up from the inside out.

"Language, Emily." Her mother chided her for her choice in curses. "Sorry, mom." Emily grunted. This was not going well. Benkei(1000/3500) and Brawler were stronger than Charge Warrior, yet they couldn't attack. She had only one option now. "I set a card in my spell/trap zone and I play the spell; Card of Demise! I can not inflict damage for the rest of the turn, or special summon monsters. But I can draw cards until I have three in my hand!" Emily added three cards to her empty hand. "When this turn ends, I have to discard everything I drew.. So." Emily had only drawn monsters. None of them could be summoned. However one could be equipped. "I activate Superheavy Samurai Soul Bang Cannon, to give my Samurai more defense power." A cannon attachment was placed on the arm of the Brawler(0/3000), to improve its defenses. "That was it." Emily discarded two cards from her hand and ended her turn.

"You know, using spells and traps weakens a deck like that, Emily." Cassius stated. He knew every Superheavy Samurai card, and a lot had their effects restricted if spells or traps were in their masters graveyard. "Like I said to that guy from Dreamworld before, I had to fill in a lot of gaps." Emily was well aware, she just did not use those samurais. Some she did not have anyway. "So did I, until I joined the guild. Hmm, this is the last turn. I could just end it and take the victory, but.." Emily had one set card left, he could not risk having it blow up in his face. He did not want to win that way either. "I will give it the finish it deserves!" He activated the effect of Hi-Speedroid Kendama again, reviving the machine from his graveyard for the second time. "I attack Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei with Stardust Charge Warrior!" The dragon warrior spread its empowered wings and dove down towards the samurai on the ground. "Then I will.. do this!" Emily activated her trap; Sealing Ceremony of Mokuton. "!?" The trap could tribute earth-type monsters to banish cards from her opponents graveyard. "I use the ceremony to sacrifice Brawler. I banish Red-Eyed Dice and Shock Surprise." It didn't really matter which cards were banished, as long as the Brawler was reduced to dirt and its Soulbang Cannon went down with it.

"What are you..!" Cassius figured out the plan, and he could do nothing to stop it. "Yeah-heh. You get the picture. Soulbang Cannon can activate its power from the graveyard, because I still have one Superheavy on my field. I can banish it to negate your effects that activates during the battle phase, and all monsters will be destroyed! Also we will both take 1000 points of damage!" Cassius could either activate Follow Wing and trigger Soulbang Cannon, or he could just let it go and have his Stardust warrior smash headfirst into Benkei's superior defense. Either way he would lose LP. "But you will still be behind him!" One synchro guild member from the audience reminded her that _both_ players would take damage from the Cannon. ".." So Cassius attacked anyway, and set off the chainreaction. Soulbang negated Follow Wing as it targeted Big Benkei. A massive blast was unleashed that wiped out the Samurai, Stardust and Kendama. Cassius was caught in the explosion as well. Yet Emily.. was untouched.

Cassius' LP: 6400

"Surprise, surprise." Emily had been shielded by, of all things, a tomato with a football helmet on its face. "Interceptomato." That was a card with nostalgic value. Cassius remembered how Emily used that in her old deck as well. Another 'filled gap'. "You discarded that card with Card of Demise." Cassius had known about its presence in the grave; Interceptomato could banish itself to protect its master from one instance of effect damage. "You pulled a fast one. I didn't think you would find a way to get Soulbang Cannon in the graveyard." Cassius had lost this fight the minute the Mokuton trap flipped. "I knew you wouldn't just end your turn, Aaron. You always want to see action. You never just let things go by themselves." That was how Emily could win. Because Cassius had nothing left to hit her with. "My turn is over. You did it, Emily. Just like your cards; nothing can make you budge." He called for the endphase. Time was up and his life was below hers. "Heheh, you got that right."

Cassius LP: X

"Ha! I told you guys she would win!" Eric openly shouted as he celebrated her victory in front of the guild members. They had been whispering about her inevitable defeat for a while now. "She did? Oh well, that's good." Mrs Brandt hadn't really kept up with what happened in the game, but the results were clear. "So now she can become one of them." Allthough Alice was also happy for her sister, she did not reach Erics level of enthusiasm. "Oh come on, Alice. It's not as if she is gonna leave us. She just wants to enter the tournament." Eric was sure she would come back to the village after that mess was done with. "That wasn't why... I.. I guess so." She took a deep breath. It was not the end of the world. "You were right about one thing tho. Uno should have seen this. he would have loved it." Eric would have to tell him every detail as soon as he got back.

"Ah! Yes, Uno." Heather remembered the note Jet had given her. "Aaron. I believe this is meant for you." She handed it over to him, now that the match was over. "Oh?" He read it through. "What does it say?" The others flocked around him like a pack of curious cats. "Well, not something I saw coming. It's a formal invitation for Uno, from the Fusion guild." He showed it so that everyone could see that that was exactly what the paper said. "Fusion?" The mail was a request for Uno _and_ his friends to come to the Fusion Guild HQ. That was it. "Why do they want to see any of us?" Alice could sorta understand inviting Uno, but them as well? That was not even most troubling aspect. "That's two guilds who know him now." Emily muttered. Even if the XYZ informed Fusion, and why would they, who gave the news to the XYZ-guild? "Maybe.. Dreamworld did it?" Alice couldn't come up with a better suspect, they were the only ones who knew that much about Uno. "Why though? What do they get out of it? Tch, this ruined my mood. Uno had better get back here to hear this."

...

 _"Time well wasted, Uno."_ Uno was walking about the city, looking for help and getting none. No jewelry store or pawnship could tell him what his pendant jewel was made from. The chain was pure gold, so it could at least sell for a lot. Uno could buy new clothes, eat somewhere fancy. Those were all small desires in the back of his head. But getting rid of something that connected to his unknown past was the last thing Uno wanted to do right now. Well the second to last thing. _"I just know what they are going to do, once I step into a hospital. They'll put me in a bed, keep me under supervision, subscribe a million medicines and therapies. That's just no way to life."_ Uno did not want to chain himself. Not when the tournament was right around the corner. _"If only I could get a sign of what to do next."_ He could not wander forever, he did eventually want to return to the people he actually knew. He just did not know what he could do.

"...Uhhh?" Uno looked down, his gem was glowing again. _"This is new for you."_ He picked it up. The way it changed intensity made Uno think it was picking up on something. _"Are you guiding me now? Is this a sign?"_ Uno started running, while keeping the gems glow hidden underneath his hands. It was reacting to something, he just needed to decipher which direction it wanted him to go. _"Okay, pendulum, let's find out"_

(To be Continued in Annex 017: A Question of Three)

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Giant Rat  
Superheavy Samurai Blue Brawler  
Superheavy Samurai Soulfire Suit  
Superheavy Samurai Soulbang Cannon  
Interceptomato

-  
Card of Demise

-  
D2 Shield  
Sealing Ceremony of Mokuton

 **New Cards used by Cassius  
** Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice  
Speedroid Taketomborg

-  
HiSpeedroid Kendama  
Stardust Charge Warrior

-  
Limiter Removal

 _-  
Speed Turn (+)  
_Follow Wing

 _(+ Based on the trap used by Yugo in YGO Arc-V)_


	17. A Question of Three

**Annex 017: A Question of Three**

Seven city blocks later and the jewel stopped emitting its strange lights. _"Okay, I am either it lost power."_ Uno took in his surroundings. He had left the busy commercial districts behind him and ended up in a quieter community. _"Or it wants me to be.. here?"_ One house contrasted sharply with the others, the one that at first gleaming looked like a haunted mansion. There was a sign above the door. _"The Sisters of Prophecy? What is this, like a fortune tellers place?"_ There was another sign next to the door that provided a bit more context. For a price, one could have their past, present or future read here. "Psychics? Really? That's what you wanted to show me?" Uno scolded his pendant, as if it wad going to give a response. _"Eh. Eric said hypnosis could work. Maybe these psychic ladies can do that for me. It ought to be funny either way."_

Uno opened the door, a bell above him chimed to sound his arrival. "Hello?" He called out nevertheless, since he did not see anyone in the hallway. This house smelled old. A strange incense clung to the air, drenched in vaguely familiar aromas. Uno waited for a couple of minutes. Nobody came. "I'm coming in!" If they didn't want him snooping around, they shouldn't have left the door open; he reasoned. If there were people here, they'd probably be inside a living room. Getting there was a chore. Books were littered across the floor, fancy bottles stacked up against the window and candles provided ambient lighting. _"It's like these people never heard of electricity... or fire hazards."_ The hall felt like it was going on forever. He walked carefully to avoid knocking anything over. "I was told there were psychics about!" Someone would have to hear him eventually, he was not the most quiet of visitors.

Someone did. "Lost something?" A shrill and small voice came from Uno's left. Uno had not even noticed a pathway there. "Wait!" There was a flash of a person fleeing around the corridor, disappearing behind a door. "I need to.." He dashed through the same opening and wound up inside a large room. "Wh..whoa." There appeared a massive library. Books and folders of all sizes lined the walls and statues of mythological deities rested in the corners. The outside of this place did not look like it could contain all this on the inside. There were a few touches of modern technology in here; reading lamps and a few computers.

"Fancy seeing you here, young duelist." Another voice came from Uno's right. This one sounded more demure. "Ha! How long have you been there?" Behind a table, sat an ample woman dressed so flamboyantly that Uno questioned his own senses for not noticing her before. "I am always here." She wore a furcoat with a rim of feathers that carried each color on the rainbow. Her fingers, neck and waist were covered with jewelry and her hair was styled like a super models hair. A crown rested on her head. "Are you the fortune teller?" She could not be much older than he was himself. In either case, but it was hard to narrow down this woman's actual age under all that make-up. If she was that young, Uno had doubts about the validity of her occupation. More than one normally would. "We are the fortune tellers, yes." She responded. "We?" Uno realized they were not the only ones in here. There was another person on the second floor, he could hear someone slowly flipping through the pages of a book. Her appearance was obscured by the huge chair she was sitting in.

"You didn't read the sign?" And the third person, the tiny voice, was right behind him. "Eh?" Uno turned around, but she was already somewhere else. "O..kay." The third person sat on of the bookcases now, swinging her legs back and forth. "You came for us; the sisters of prophecy. You didn't have to shout." This one was definitely very young and less colorful. "Sisters." She wore a white coat dress and a white boater hat. Her hair was mousy blonde with two long pigtail braids that reached all the way to the floor. Everything about her was muted, except her eyes. Her irises were blood red. "That's the word. My name is Veronica. And that is my younger sister, Chloe." The woman at the table pointed her long fingernail to the second floor. "Upstairs is our older sister, Margot. She does not speak much with our visitors." Veronica said loud enough that 'Margot' could hear her. She kept reading. "You couldn't afford her anyway." Chloe said, shaking her head. "Not her? Do you provide different services?" They were talking like they were _all_ psychics. "Just like time does, young duelist. The Past, the Present, the Future. We can see it all."

"So what would I need to 'afford' the other two; the past and present?" Uno said without consideration for the critical lack of money in his pockets. "I knew he would ask for the past. Nobody else did.." The little girl let out a sound of joy. "Well I suppose you would know.. I want to learn about my past, because it was taken from me." Seeing the past was a talent the common man already possessed. Yet Uno was one of the few who had no such ability. "You were meant so say something else..." Chloe sounded disappointed all of the sudden. "He still does not remember. I'm affraid the past is not available either, Uno." Veronica claimed. Uno was aware that she was using his name before he had uttered it. Though they could have just read that from the ID-tag on his chest. They called him a duelist too, but anyone could spot the dueldisk on his wrist. "Not even that? You know I'm beginning to think you're not what you say you are. How about you give me a little proof of your powers?"

"What was that?" Chloe asked, as she jumped down from the bookcase. "The young duelist tried to bait a free answer from us. How very surreptitious of you." It was getting hard to ignore that this kid did not talk like a kid. "No harm in trying. Guess you aren't born yesterday." She was a lot smarter than he had at first assumed at least. "We were born on all days, in a way." Chloe said almost melodically and spun around to disappear in between the bookcases. "..Never mind her. We don't like to work with empty pages. But you have plenty, you have your present. You can ask me anything you want about the now.." Veronica whipped up a machine from under her desk. "As for proof. Will this suffice?" The device was a projector, much like the ones you would find on a dueldisk. It visualized images of dueling cards; Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei, Volcanic Doomfire, Mermail Abyssmegalo, Hi Speedroid Chanbara and Odd-Eyed Pendulum Dragon. "!" Those were the cards of his friends, of himself. She was not simply making shots in the dark here. "How did you know?"

"Careful, Uno. From here on in, how you phrase your sentences will decide everything. You have three questions and you get only those three." Veronica removed the projections. At the same time Chloe re-appeared at her side. "That was not a bad question though. Everyone wanted to know how we do our magic. They never asked, but we could tell." Veronica then clapped her hands. "That is the one answer we never give. So let's begin, Uno. What do you want to know? What do you want us to tell you?"

Everything turned to silence. The only noise in the entire house came from Margot upstairs; the flipping pages were like a ticking clock. Uno had to think this over. If they were the real deal, they could give him everything he wanted. Yet he'd have to word any question perfectly. He did not trust them to give straight answers otherwise. If he asked them what his real name was, they'd likely just say he had no real name 'presently'. So what did he _want_ to know? He had to find out about Uno, the pendulum, that woman and anyone who might know his true identity. They were key to all of this. "There is a man I am after, or a woman.. you never know with names these days." The best approach was to give them with context, so they couldn't use fake ignorance. "People from Dreamworld, Iria and Zach, know this person. His name is UNO as well. My first question is this; where on the map is this person at right now?" A question about identity could be interpreted so many ways, but locations were precise.

"40.712777 and -74.005842." The answer was a bit more exact than Uno had bargained for. "Huh? What.. Oh, coordinates." He quickly shut himself up before he was suckered into asking follow-up questions. At least Veronica was nice enough to print out a map to go with it. he'd have to check which buildings were there later. "Fine, moving on. My next question. Why did this.. ahem.. why is this pendant not glowing right now?" He had to avoid the past tense in his sentences, but there were ways to indirectly ask about it. "Because nobody else is using it right now." The second answer was both obscure and clarifying. _"Someone else is using it? Is it like a transceiver then? Was someone else trying to tell me about these girls?"_ It was another mystery Uno he couldn't get into. "Okay, my final question. I don't know my actual name, but there should be someone who does." He had to have ties with family or friends in my past. If they werent going to talk about the past, someone else would. "So what I want to know is the full name of someone, anyone besides the people I already met, who can tell me who I used to be."

Now the last question was out there and Veronica took a decent amount of time to think of an answer. The tension was palpable. "It is a good thing you added that qualifier in the middle end, Uno. Or else we would've given ourselves as the answer." Chloe's jabbed in between the seconds. Margot was still reading. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon can." Veronica finally answered. "Wh-what?" That was the name. Not of a person, but of a monster. "What is that supposed to mean?" This was not enough, he wanted more. "You never said the name had to belong to a person. You spent your last question, Uno!" Chloe reprimanded him. "But I don't understand. How can a card tell me who I am? You have to help me! There must be something else you can do for me! Hypnosis, divination, tarot reading, anything!" He angrily shouted. He was not ready to leave yet, not now. "If you wanted my help, you should have done things differently." The little girl glared at him, her eyes burning with a hellish intensity. "You shouldn't have asked for what you needed, but for what you wanted."

"What I wanted?" Uno stammered. "Indeed. What do you want, Uno?" Veronica now asked him a question. Chloe was still waiting. Even their older sister had stopped making sounds. "I want.." What did he want? What kind of desires did he have? Just because he knew so little about himself, did not make him an empty person. He knew what he liked. He enjoyed the sound of laughter, the attention of others, the excitement of a duel. Was that it? He wanted friends, but that was just a consequence. The cause of that desire was something else. "I want to help people, I want them to want me." That was what he felt. Even if he knew who he was, he would be lonely by himself. "Friends. You already made a few. You could have gotten a lot more." Chloe whispered softly. "More? Yes.. more." Uno did not know why this emotion was swelling up inside him now. But he wanted to have more allies, not just friends. " _Maybe you're here for a reason, Uno._ _This is not about fame. This is about making an impact on this strange world. It never felt right._ " He needed to make a connection with entire groups, with something like a guild.

"?" A tall shadow loomed over Uno. He looked up and saw the silhouette of Margot standing above him. He couldn't make out her face or features, the light was shining right behind her. "It's time for you to leave." Veronica spoke up, pointing to a door on the left wall. "Margot says that you will find us again when you are ready." The shadow moved back into the library. Chloe had disappeared as well. It was just him and the girl of the present. "She said all that?" Uno inquired, knowing very well he'd probably not get an answer. "Hee.. Your friends are missing you, young duelist. They are wondering where you are. One of them wants to tell you about her victories." Veronica just played it off.. before her face turned grim. "Also, you don't have a lot of time left." Then the lights went out in the room and she could no longer be seen. "Hey! No fair, leaving with a warning like that!" Yelling did not help, there was no response from any of them. All he could do was take the map and go to the exit. _"Was that door always here? Don't tell me, everything has always been here, and always will be."_ He shrugged. This was enough madness for one day.

...

Once he was far away from that place, Uno felt like being near some normal company. The castle was only an hour away. Cassius and the others were already waiting for him in the courtyard. "Yay, he's back!" Alice yelled right off the bat. "Of course. Sorry I took so long. Had a lot of stuff to do. Where's miss Brandt?" Everyone was here but Heather. "She couldn't stay here, she had to go back to work. She said it was okay if we stayed here for a few nights." Emily explained. "Ah. I see. I guess I missed a lot here." Uno noticed that the girl had a new coat and badge. "It is shiny, isn't it?" The aesthetic was the one thing that Emily's sister appreciated. "Yup. Say hi to the latest member of the synchro guild. Rank 25." Emily boasted. Apparently her victory over Zach had already put her quite high in the charts, and beating Cassius only boosted her further. "Not high enough yet, but I will get there. I'm going to help Cassius and his guild win the tournament." She only needed a few more wins at this rate. "Nice, nice, Emily." Uno said. So this was the victory that the sisters had predicted. "Uhm, we should probably tell him about the other thing too." Cassius coughed. "Other thing?" Uno noticed a piece of paper in Cassius' hands.

They told him about the invitation, about the fusion guild and the possibility of Dreamworld leaking info to the other guilds. It all sounded plausible. "Speaking of Dreamworld. I think I know where the other Uno is." He claimed. "You do? Did you get more of your memories back?" Alice gasped. "A few." Going with that suggestion would probably sound more believable than a story about three fortune telling sisters. "This is just a gut feeling, but I think UNO is working with Dreamworld right now." That gut feeling was of course the set of coordinates on the map. On the way back Uno checked that place out with the GPS in the car, and found out that it led him directly to Dreamworlds main office. "That is great! What made you remember; surgery, hypnosis?" Eric wanted all the gruesome details. They were all still under the assumption that Uno had gone to see a doctor. "Something like that."

"So what are you going to do? About the invitation I mean." Cassius was slightly more concerned with what Uno would do next. "He doesn't have to accept it, does he? He can just join us." Emily saw it as a simple matter. Uno had already beaten someone in the guild, all he had to do was ask. "But wouldn't it be rude to say no? They could get mad at him." Alice pointed out. "Yeah! We gotta check if their guild is better or not!" Eric blurted out, drawing an irate look from Emily. "Eric! Aaron is standing right there." He could not have been more insulting if he tried. "Well excuse me, Em. I just don't really know what I want to do yet. Fusions and Synchros are both cool, and it's hard to choose. I mean the best option would be getting a job like Iria. Then I could put whatever I want in my deck and not fuss with the details of guilds and stuff. And I could be.. uhm.. never mind." Such a cushy job was a pipe dream anyway. "What you should first do is go back to your mother. You keep putting it off." Emily grumbled.

"It's alright Emily. I'm okay with Eric keeping his options open. The same goes for you, Uno. I would argue that the XYZ-guild does not fit with you two. But the Fusion guild, as much as I disagree with their interests, are not a bad alternative. Though you should judge for yourself." Cassius said with remarkable informality. "Is their leader a jerk like Adamant?" Was the immediate question on Emily's mind. "Ah.. That guild has so many leaders it's not even funny. They let nonduelists handle the money, while their duelists change ranks all the time. They usually get actors or actresses to act as their spokesman. I bet you'll meet whoever it is this week if you go, Uno." He had not met any of them personally, but they couldn't be as bad as Adamant. "Where would I go to meet them?" They were not just inviting him to one of their hot spots, but to their control center. Uno had no idea where that was. "On an island in the middle of North Lake. It's a Casino."

"A casino?" Alice's eyes lit up as her imagination ran wild. "Oh no. Nonono!" Emily shook her head. "We're not going there! I know you; we'd never get out!" Alice could get excited over a firefly in her room, a building full of stimuli would be overkill. "You wouldn't be going inside there. You'd be taken somewhere separately. Likely so you can discuss the same subjects that we discussed. I also suppose it would come to a trial duel." If Cassius were to guess, the fusion guild was only doing this to see Uno's Pendulum cards. "So it's trap then?" Uno had to think about this. On one hand, he had an easy option for himself right here. On the other hand, the Fusion guild could perhaps do what the Synchro guild could not; find his true name for him. He could not stop reflecting on what those sisters had told him, that he was not here to take sides. He simply did not know all he needed to know yet. "Okay then.. I'll take it, their invitation."

(To be Continued in Annex 018: Beautiful on the Outside)


	18. Beautiful on the Outside

**Annex 018: Beautiful on the Outside**

If the words of fortunetellers could truly be trusted, then time was not a luxury Uno could afford. He wanted to visit the fusion guild as soon as possible, the very next day. Emily and Cassius traveled with him to represent their guild while Alice and Eric tagged along because they too were invited. After much pleading, Eric got his mother to okay one more night with the gang. It took a ferry to bring them to the island. It took their invitation papers to get them beyond the doors of the casino. "Wow." The inside looked as extravagant as all the neon signs outside had suggested. Half the place was filled with virtual arcades, giftshops, gambling machines, dancing stages and dueling arenas. "Just think, we could win a million dollars here." Eric was salivating at the thought. "What would we do with all that money?" Alice was more interested in just playing on the machines. "You gotta be practical about these things. Erh,.. not that we should try." Emily coughed. "Heh. Sounds like someone has given this some thought after all." Cassius joked. "Maybe.. Once. If it ever happened.." Emily sheepishly admitted.

The only one who didn't talk was Uno. He had no interest in gambling on a normal day, and certainly not now. He preferred thinking opponents. Uno instead made a beeline for the elevator that led to the main office. "Excuse us." Yet there was a man in the way; a pretty-boy type with styled blonde hair. He wore a T-shirt with the fusion logo on it, the kind of shirt that probably cost a good hundred bucks. "That's as far as you go." He did not budge from the elevator door. "Nobody told you that we were expected?" Uno showed him the invitation as well. "Oh no, I was told. But this is part of the 'tour'. Those above wish to see you, but also wonder if you are at all worthy of stepping into their domain." He spoke in a disdainful manner that made it seem like he shared that opinion. "Is that so? I can vouch for him. My position should count for something." Cassius protested. "Why drag us all the way out here otherwise?"

"I think I know what counts." Uno activated his dueldisk. "Defeating one of you in a duel should be enough to prove my 'worth', right?" History was repeating itself. Only this time Uno would take the initiative. "That will suffice. They foresaw such an eventuality and deigned me, Meridian, to act as their right hand. I will be your opponent." He rolled back his sleeve to unveil his dueldisk; a gem-studded and silver-painted model. "I accept." Uno said, unwavering. "Exquisite The rest of your friends are welcome to observe our engagement. Or they may browse around. You will find plenty of entertainment, nourishment and merchandise in our halls." The choice was theirs and the second option was too much for one duelist to ignore. "Alright!" Eric raced towards the shops without a moments hesitation. Hundreds of cards awaited him. "Uh. I'll go with him." Cassius offered. But Emily shook her head. "No no. Let me. I'm used to this." She wanted him to stay here anyway, it felt safer that way. "Alice? Do you want to come too?" She asked her sister. "No. I'm happy watching Uno play. You go." She smiled. "Oh.. bit surprising. But okay. Uno, Aaron, I'll be back as soon as I can." Emily took off in Erics general direction.

"Now then, follow me." The three duelists who stayed behind were led to one of the arenas at the center of the building. From there everyone could see them. "Will the top brass be watching?" Cassius inquired. "They can see us, there are cameras to cover every inch of this place. If they like what they see, they will come to meet you in person. If not, I will go up in rank instead. So dnot expect this to be a walk in the park. I intend to win." Meridian stepped on his side of the arena. Holographic enhancers cast their light on the field before him. This kind of equipment was a taste of what was to come in the tournament. "Uno. You're not worried are you?" Alice had noticed that Uno did not look as enthusiastic as he usually did. "No, not that." He did feel different. Like this duel was only a formality he had to get through. "This wont be like the last time." He activated his own unique dueldisk and started the fight. The first turn was awarded to him. "I set a card in my spell/trap zone and normal summon Performapal Silverclaw!" The show began with he silver wolf(4/1800/700). Its fur flashed brilliantly under the lights of the Casino and the projectors.

Meridians LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"So those are the illustrious Pendulum monsters. They certainly are a sight." Meridian started his turn. "Yet now I shall grant you a true feast for the eyes! I activate the spell of Absorbfusion! This card adds one Gemknight from my deck to my hand!" Meridian used the first effect on a Gemknight Tourmaline card. It appeared all of his cards had a glossy sparkling foil applied to them. There was not a common among them. "Then I may apply immediate fusion to monsters on my hand or field! Though I may not special summon anything but Gemknights this turn!" The Tourmaline gem in his hand was banished along with a Gemknight Crystal. "Fusion already?" Alice was stunned that he could gather his fusion materials this quickly. "There are a thousand ways to fuse, but mine may be the most splendid! Behold, Gemknight Topaz!" Yellow and white crystal were merged into a knight(6/1800/1800) in topaz-orange armor. "My Gemknight may attack twice in one turn. Furthermore, when Topaz slays a monster, its master loses lifepoints equal to the monsters attackpower!" And as Meridian had not normal summoned yet this turn, he could summon the red/brown warrior Gemknight Sardonyx(4/1800/900) from his hand. "I shall cut your lifepoints first!"

"I have three guys who disagree with you, Meridian!" Uno activated his set quickplay spell card; Hippo Carnival. "I special summon three Hippo tokens in defense mode! Only they can be attacked his turn!" The dancing hippo trio(1/0/0) jumped own in front of Silverclaw, to defend him. "Oho. I must say, I find those things quite repulsive." Meridian wanted to be nowhere near those things. He quickly had Topaz cut down two of them with this golden blades. Sardonyx crushed the last one with his spiked flail. "A pity that tokens and zero attackpoints do not set off the power of my Topaz." Meridian placed two trap cards down and ended his turn. "Being cute will not please the crowd today, Uno. Is that all you can do?"

"You haven't seen the half of it, Meridian." Uno's drawphase came, he pulled out Stargazer Magician. In his hand were three Performapals. _"Nothing devastating."_ On one hand, he did not have Odd-Eyes the other hand, the last duel proved he had to rely less on it. "I summon Performapal Salutiger." The ringleader tiger warrior(4/1700/500) came to back the silver wolf up. "Then I shall set the scale 3 Pendulum monster; Performapal Partnaga!" One beam of light shot up to the ceiling, a red-ringed yellow snake lied inside the pendulum zone. "Just one scale?" Cassius did not know what Uno was trying to do. It wasn't going to be a pendulum summon. "While it is a spell card; Partnaga can add attackpoints to one monster for one turn. He gets 300 points for each Performapal card I control, that means three boosts!" The Naga grabbed Salutiger with the glove on its tailtip to enfuse it(2600/500) with more strength. "And let's not forget Silverclaw, who gives each Performer 300 attackpoints when he charges into battle!" Uno started the battle phase. Silverclaw(2100/700) targeted Sardonyx and cut the flame-colored quartz knight up into sharp fragments.

Meridians LP: 7700

"And Salutiger destroys..well you can guess." The other Performapal punched right through the chestplate of knight Topaz, scattering his crystal body like diamond dust. "Pretty." The glistening projections looked so real, Alice thought she could touch the dust with her hand. "Indeed. Attacking my fusion monster with lowlevel monsters like those. But then that was merely the most fragile of my gems." Meridian chuckled. "I wasn't done yet!" Uno activated Salutigers effect. Because it had destroyed a monster, he could add a new pendulum Performapal from his deck to his hand. "I add Performapal Lizardraw to my hand and end my turn!"

Meridians LP: 6600

"You think that will be enough for your defense?" Meridian drew his next card, and his expression changed. "And here I was dreading a delay. I should not have let my tastes dictate my actions. Uno, you know what the beauty of fusion is?" He activated a field spell card; Fusion Gate. A grid of green lines marked the floor. "They alone offer all choices!" Meridian followed it up with his trap card; Chain Material. "Oh boy!" Cassius flinched. He had seen this combo many times. "What is it?" Alice did not like the look of this either. "Chain Material can banish materials in his deck to summon fusion monsters. That effect lasts until the end of the turn. With Fusion Gate he can fuse materials as many times as he wants, if he banishes them. He won't need a fusing spell." By putting the trap and field spell together, Meridians entire extra deck was up for grabs. He could fusion summon the same monster three times if he wanted, just by banishing fusion materials from his deck. The only consolation was Chain Material blocking the battle phase during the turn it was activated.

"Adequately put, leader of the Synchro Guild." He set his plan in motion. "By fusing a Gemknight with an Aqua-type monster, Chain Material can fusion summon Gemknight Amethyst!" Gemknights Iolite and Saphire, two aqua-type Gemknights were banished along with two random Gemknights. Four went from the deck into the gate and Two purple-Amethyst armor knights(7/1950/2450) came out of the gate and extra deck. "By fusing any three Gemknights, I can create Gemknight Master Diamond!" Meridian now banished six random Gemknights from his deck, to fusion summon two of the kings of Gemknights; Gemknight Master Diamond(9/3300/2500). "Finally! Gemknight Lazuli, together with Gemknight Lapis.. will form Gemknight Lady Lapis Lazuli!" The gate opened for one more time, combining the essential elements to release the rock maiden of blue; Lapis Lazuli(5/2400/1000). Meridians masterpiece was complete. "Lapis Lazuli, she sends one Gemknight fusion from the extra deck to the grave, to inflict 500 points of damage to my enemy.. for each special summoned monster on the field!" The Lady Lapis sent a second Lady Lapis away, and gathered energy from herself and the other Gemknights into the crystal on her chest. Then energy was released. "And that means.. " Uno counted 2500 points of damage, which exploded in his chest. "Augh."

Uno's LP: 5500

"You did not hope that was the end of it, did you? Alas, Gemknight Master Diamond can imitate the effect of a fusion-monster Gemknight in the graveyard!" Meridian banished the copy of Lapis Lazuli that he had discarded. Its essence was absorbed by the Gem Kings sword. "Then.." Now Master Diamond(2900/2500) had the same effect as Lapis Lazuli. "Only one Lazuli can be summoned each turn. Master Diamond will have to finish what she started." The Diamond Knight discarded the third and final Lady Lapis from Meridians extra deck. Then it fired a wave of energy at Uno with his sword. "This is getting old, Meridian." He took the same amount of damage again.

Uno's LP: 3000

"Yet you cannot deny its effectiveness. My victory will be flawless. Your loss will guarantee my slot in the tournament, and the prize will be glorious." His second Gemknight Master Diamond banished the third Lapis Lazuli. With that stolen power, Master Diamond discarded a random fusion from the extra deck. Uno was blasted for the third time. "..." Uno looked more and more dejected with each hit, which Alice noticed. "You're okay, Uno! He is out of Gemknight ladies now!" She yelled. Even an extra deck could only hold three copies of any card.

Uno's LP: 500

"Naive girl; your friend already knows what I am about to do. Out of Gemknight Ladies? You have no clue!" Meridian laughed even louder. "I can also use Fusion Gate to combine monsters on the field!" One Master Diamond was banished along with the two Gemknight Amethysts. "Just like the King, the queen of diamonds can be fusion summoned with any three Gemknights! I call out Gemknight Lady Brilliant Diamond!" Purple and clear crystals were mixed by the field spell. The knights formed the female counterpart to Master Diamond; Brilliant Diamond(10/3400/2000). "Lady Diamond can sacrifice any Gemknight I possess, to summon a fused knight from the extra deck. She disregards any requirements for that fusion monster! I sacrifice my blue Lady and bring out my final King!" The Diamond Knight tributed the last Lapis Lazuli. The third Gemknight Master Diamond(3400/2500) was summoned from the extra deck. "Oh no!" Alice gasped. Now there was another Lapis Lazuli in the graveyard! "Master Diamond, you can see how the act goes!" The Master banished Lady Lazuli and copied her effect. Though there were only three special summoned monsters on the field now, Uno could not endure 1500 points of damage. "I activate the effect!" Master Diamond(3300/2500) charged his sword.

"Meridian. I could see the entire act too." Uno waited until the time was right. "I disagree with the ending! I activate Performapal Raingoat's effect from my hand! This guy negates effect damage once a turn!" A living raincoat jumped out of his hand. Raingoat spread his body to swallow the attack from Master Diamond. "What is this?" Meridian was shocked. He could have stopped damage all this time? "If you knew, why did you wait?" If Raingoat had blocked any of the earlier blasts, Uno would have a thousand more lifepoints. "What kind of showman would I be? If I did not build the suspense?" Uno snickered briefly. He and Meridian had a sizable audience, dozens of people in the casino were watching their duel. "You are a fool. A lucky fool, but luck wears thin quickly in this place." Meridian placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "My guild does not need duelists like you. You have one more turn, and then it all ends."

 _"One more?"_ Once again someone told him he had little time to spare. The people around were only just now getting into the duel, yet Meridian wanted it over with already. _"These guilds are always in a hurry. Like they dont have much time either."_ Uno disliked it, but he had to admit that he had just gone through the motions so far. Ot wasn;t getting him any results. His deck seemed to agree, as Uno now finally drew Odd-Eyes. However there was no way to summon it. _"You're supposed to tell me who I am? No, not just you.."_ Closer to him, obscured by his own jacket, was the light of his jewel. What was it trying to show him? Who else was using it? "Purple?" The light had a kind of hue that reminded him of the power he was up against. Was that what the pendulum wanted to say to him? Uno noticed his disk felt heavier, if ever so slightly.

"What are you waiting for?" Meiridian was growing impatient, Uno had been spacing out for a good minute now. It was the moment to break the silence. "I see you want to wrap this up, Meridian. Well then, I will give you an ending!" Uno placed the scale-3 Pendulum monster, Performapal Lizardraw, in the other pendulum zone. "I have set both scales; Partnaga and Lizardraw! I can now pendulum summon any level 4 or 5 monsters in his hand!" The crowd was bustling with cries of exhilaration, they were finally going to see the miracle. "I summon Stargazer Magician!" The caped pendulum spellcaster of white magic(5/1200/2400) was brought in as a monster for once. "That was it?" Meridian balked. "No." Uno took Odd-Eyes pendulum Dragon from his hand. "There is one other thing; your Fusion Gate. Both players can use it.." And Uno fused it with Stargazer on the field. "!?" Because it was a field spell, Fusion Gate could be activated by Uno as well. "Uno? What are you summoning?" Except Uno had never given any indication of owning fusions that he could summon right now, not even to Alice or Cassius. "Did you always have fusion monsters?" Non-guild duelists could use fusion monsters too, of course. But Cassius assumed Uno wanted to join a guild _because_ he had no extra deck cards.

"To get anywhere, I have to let go of my own nature. So this is part of the new me!" Stargazer and the pendulum dragon were banished beyond the gate. "By fusing any spellcaster with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, I can summon Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from my extra deck!" Odd-Eyes evolved, its one eye was covered by a golden rune patch, and a golden ring extended from its sides around its body(8/3000/2000). "During the turn it is fusion summoned with a pendulum summoned monster as a material..." Uno began to explain as he saw Meridian move his hand towards his set trap. "It is unaffected by other card effects." Once he was finished, his opponent withdrew his hand. Whatever that trap had been, it was no threat now. "Partnaga!" Uno then activated the effect of his snake again. Partnaga added 300 attackpoints to Rune-Eyes for each Performapal card on the field. The Snake, Lizard, Tiger and Wolf all lent Rune-Eyes(4200/2000) their support. "Attack the Gemknights, Rune-Eyes!" The clash of fusions began, Rune-Eyes turned one Master Diamond knight into a pile of shards with a magic blast from its mouth.

Meridians LP: 5500

"Is he winning?" The people around the arena began to mumble and chat. "He must be even better than Meridian." At first they had come to see Meridian claim another victim with his Lapis Lazuli combo. Now they were captivated by Uno's fusion. "You must believe you can terrify me. Your monster is nothing to me!" But Meridian still had two cards left. Partnaga's boost would wear off on his next turn. And because one more Gemknight was in the graveyard, the other King(3400/2500) was even more powerful. "I wouldn't judge so quickly. Because, I kept something a secret this time too." Rune-Eyes charged up a second burst of flames. "!?" It had a second attack. Meridian was left speechless as the Dragon destroyed the other Gemknight Master. "If a level 5 or higher spellcaster was used as a fusion material for Rune-Eyes, he can attack monsters three times each turn." That meant Uno had a third attack already cued up, and one monster left to destroy. "Fire." The third fireball scattered Gemknight Lady's brilliant body like shimmering ashes. "Not.. again.."

Meridians LP: 3900

"This is what you would call a victory, wouldn't you?" Uno's two remaining Performapals attacked directly. Meridian took the swipes from Silver Claw(2100/700) and a jab from Salutiger(1800/500). "You..you defeated me with those things?" His opponent had trouble accepting such a sudden loss. But Uno wasn't paying attention to him anymore. "So, any more takers? Or was that enough!?"

Meridians LP: 0

(To be Continued in Annex 019: Right to Party)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Partnaga  
Performapal Raingoat  
Performapal Lizardraw

-  
Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon

 **Cards used by Dian  
** Gemknight Tourmaline  
Gemknight Crystal  
Gemknight Sardonyx  
Gemknight Iolite  
Gemknight Sapphire  
Gemknight Lapis  
Gemknight Lazuli

-  
Gemknight Topaz  
Gemknight Amethyst  
Gemknight Master Diamond  
Gemknight Lady Lapis Lazuli  
Gemknight Lady Brilliant Diamond

-  
Absorbfusion  
Fusion Gate

-  
Chain Material


	19. Right to Party

**Annex 019: Right to Party**

"You! Do not ignore me! How did you acquire a fusion monster! It couldn't have come from us! This whole duel was a farce!" Once the shock wore off, Meridian felt only anger. "We had no record of you owning anything like that!" He felt robbed. This duel had to be scrapped from the rankings. However, Cassius had a few things of his own to say. "Record? Who gave you that record?" The Synchro duelist let that question hang in the air. Meridian was visibly rattled. "Anyway, this duel was clean. That card was in his extra deck from the start." Cassius checked the logs with his own dueldisk. Yet admittedly he was as surprised as anyone else to see the fused dragon. "Unless you want to accuse our friend of adding cards to his deck mid-duel." Meridian gnashed his teeth in frustration. He was not ready to give up his standpoint. "But what about the card itself? I never even heard of a Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! How could a brand new theme have fusions already?"

"My counterpart is right, Meridian." A womans voice with a higher than usual pitch broke up the standoff. "Oh? Did you enjoy the show?" Uno heard the words coming from speakers installed on the ceiling. The people above were deigning to talk with those below. "Our own scans confirm that the card is genuine, it has all the coding that Dreamworld usually applies. Whatever game Dom and his entourage are setting up, they're playing it by the book." This got Meridian to simmer down, although he was still visibly upset. "Now." Another much lower-toned voice cut in on the PA. "That was really great, Uno. We like your style. If you still want to, you can come upstairs. Bring your friends or Cassius, whatever. I'm sure we can beat whatever he offered you. The elevator will be opened . Don't keep us waiting." The transmission broke off.

"I guess one of those was the current guild runner?" Cassius asked Meridian. "You will find out on your own." Meridian did not feel like telling them anything. "Just take this." He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a medal. He tossed it to Uno. "Thank you." The medal had the symbol of the fusion guild on it. There was the first step towards being part of this guild. But Meridian was not done venting yet. "This is not over, Uno. You might be a part of the guild, but I never forget those who slight me." He walked away, forcing himself past the crowd. "He didn't like to lose either." Alice sighed. It was disheartening to see so many people care only about winning. Not that she did not have her own concerns. "Uno, I'm glad you won, but was that dragon always part of your deck?" To her that dragon did not seem to blend in well with his visual style. Uno himself had acted strange after he summoned it too. "Yeah. I just never had a good moment to summon it. I can't show all my tricks at once yaknow."

It wasn't. Uno had to lie to her, because the truth was far stranger. This duel was the first time Uno saw Rune-Eyes. He just did not want to trouble Alice with things he already couldn't understand himself. _"Though where did the card come from then, Uno? Can your disk somehow print you new cards during a duel? But those people said nothing unfair happened, so.. what did happen?"_ All he had to go on was the timing of it all. It happened after his jewel glowed. It made him see something he could not see before. _"The sisters."_ When he remembered their words, that was when he discovered Rune-Eyes. But this was not the first time his cards seemed to undergo a change. _"It was the same with Odd-Eyes Dragon. I don't even remember if I had Pendulum cards in my deck, until that pendulum jewel glowed."_ Did it take place that far back? Had he held fusion monsters all along and did this duel make him remember? Each memory just raised more questions.

"About your other question.. I haven't made up my mind yet. I want to keep my options open." There were more pressing matters. Uno could choose one of two guilds now, but that would make the other his enemy. Cassius was somewhat understanding though. "We should still meet with those on top." He suggested. "Yeah I would like to see them face to face. Alice, wanna tag along?" Uno asked. The girl shook her head. "No. It doesn't sound as fun as this floor. Also I probably shouldn't leave Emily. She'll give me another speech if I do." Speaking of her sister, there she was right now, pushing her way through the mob. "Hey. Is it over already?" Looked like she had missed the whole duel. "Yeah. I won too. Guess that makes us even. So where's Eric?" For a second he wondered if Eric had gotten lost in the masses. "He ran into the nearest duel arena he could find as soon as he bought new cards for himself. I figured better he did that, than waste his money on the slot machines." Now he would finally stay in one spot. "Oh. I want to see that!" Alice said, energetic as always. "That's cool. You two can look over him. Cassius and I'll go talk to those ladies upstairs." Any other time Uno would have stayed with them, but he had to get this over with.

The Brandts left the boys to their meeting and headed back into the arena section. There they discovered Eric was in a less than happy disposition. "Why, why can't I do it!?" The outcome of his match was obvious. "Oh no! How did it go wrong?" The details were less clear. "It doesn't matter Alice, it is going to be the same every time. It's impossible without the best cards. Fusions, Synchros and XYZs are just too fast and overwhelming." The deck he made this time was just not as good as a guild-enhanced deck. He wasted his money. "Hey I did it." Emily shrugged. "Yeah yeah. I am overreacting, that is what you want to say isn't it? But you knew your opponent, you were lucky! Now you can be as good as him. But I don't have that! I'll never be as good as someone like Iria. She could beat anyone without an extra deck."

"What about that guy?" Alice pointed to the neighboring duel arena. "That guy?" Someone from outside the guild, a tall man with short brown hair, was fighting against a guild member in fancy coat. The names on their disks were Kyle and Julius. "He is doing.. sorta okay." That match had been going on for a bit, and the outsider was actually staying in the game without extra deck monsters. "Maybe we should see how he does it?" Since they had to wait for Uno to get ready with his talks, they had time to fill. But that did not mean Eric had to enjoy it. "Yeah? Well I'll see about that." He sat down with his arms folded and legs crossed. "Off to a good start.."

Julius' LP: 3100 Kyle's LP: 1200

Already Julius was gaining back the lead with a monster he had fusion summoned, who destroyed one of Kyle's regular monsters. "What you destroyed was Valkyrian Knight, do you know what is going to happen now?" Kyle's slain valkyrie(4/1900/1200) in red armor had a death-triggered effect. Now that she had been destroyed in battle, Kyle could banish her and another warrior from the grave to special summon a warrior from his graveyard. "I summon this card, Mighty Slugger." A baseball player(5/2300/700) with cybernetic armor attachments was placed on the arena. It was one of the Ultra Athtletes. "Pfahah! Don't you know what you are up against?" Julius had a good laugh as he ended his battle phase. "My monster, Elemental HERO Core, can destroy any monster at the end of a battle phase!" His fusion warrior, the ideal hero Core(9/2700/2200), blew up the revived Athlete by creating a meteor that crashed down on that specific monster zone. "So much for that stunt, Kyle!"

"Stunt? You think I am just here to show off?" Kyle clenched his hand. "Let me show you how serious I am, Julius. I have been saving all my cards for this!" Kyle's turn began now. He started by activating a spell card; The Warrior Returning Alive. With it he could reclaim a dead warrior. "I place Mighty Slugger back in my hand!" He followed with a second spell. "Feast of the Wild Level 5! I special summon Mighty Slugger and Perfect Ace!" The savage feast spell could summon a pair of level 5 warriors that were in a players hand. The ultra slugger returned, along with the visor-wearing ace pitcher(5/1500/2500) of the athletes. "What are you up to, Kyle? Monsters summoned by Feast of the Wild cannot attack or activate their abilities." Julius was not very intimidated. "This, Julius." But Kyle's opponent changed his mind, when Kyle recalled Mighty Slugger. "By sending an Ultra Athlete back to my hand, I can special summon another!" Kyle summoned a stronger athlete from his hand, a basketball cyborg(7/2500/1800). "Ultra Athlete Dreadnought Dunker!"

"Oh, that is neat." Alice hadn't seen cards like those before. "But does that mean he can.." And as she expected, it was a very versatile technique. Kyle put U.A. Perfect Ace back into his hand next. "I special summon Mighty Slugger back to the field!" Now the Ultra Slugger had returned and broken free from the Wild Feasts restrictions. It could attack, and it would. "Spell card, Solidarity! All my monsters will gain 800 attackpoints!" The Dreadnaught(3300/1800) and Mighty one(3100/700) enjoyed a new powerboost. Solidarity would strengthen them as long as Kyle had only one type of monster, warrior in this case, in his graveyard. "Battle!" Mighty Slugger gathered lightning into a spherical shape, and launched it away with a swing of his bat. "Not going to happen, Kyle! Elemental HERO Core can double his attackpoints when he is attacked!" Julius claimed, and he tried to back it up with action. "Julius, you are overlooking one thing. When the Slugger attacks, no effects may be activated." Except Kyle had that taken care of.

"I am not done yet! Go ahead, destroy Core. His death will only guarantee new life!" The HERO Core could special summon a fusion Elemental HERO from the grave upon destruction, and Julius had plenty in the graveyard by now. "Now _that_ is not going to happen, Julius!" So Kyle flipped a continuous trap that he had set down in his previous turn. "Ultra Athlete Penalty Box! When my Athletes do battle, the monster they fight with is banished along with them!" A holographic referee popped up to blow his whistle. Both the Slugger and Core were put on time-out and dragged into a box in another dimension. "What the.." Now there was nothing but a clean path between The Dreadnaught Dunker and the hero-less opponent. "I did not come here to play around, Julius. I have a tournament to enter, and you're just the one who got in my way!" The Dunking warrior jumped as high as the holo-emitters would allow and slammed a ball down right on top of Julius. The damage he took was enough to take him out of the duel. The winner was decided. "Pft. You've won this time." Julius handed Kyle his prize, a random fusion monster card and the guild's badge. "Next time, you wont be so lucky." The hero duelist shambled off.

Julius' LP: 0

"Congrats." Emily said as Kyle walked down the raised floor. He paused. "...Thanks... Wait, arent you in the wrong place?" It was not so much her words as her appearance that caught him off guard. "Huh? Oh the coat. Yeah I already have a guild. I'm here with a few friends who don't." One such friend was stewing in the background. "Ngh. I guess that was pretty good." Eric's bitterness had mellowed a bit, enough to admit that he liked that duel. "At least you made it into the guild. But that deck is way more powerful than what I could use." If anything this was his flaw; Eric always went with flash over functionality. "Well maybe he likes doing athletic things, and sports? Maybe he chose that deck because of how it looked." Alice reasoned. Kyle had visibly muscular arms, so it was not unreasonable to assume he did physical exercises. "Me? No. My brother was the athlete. But I guess you can say I chose this deck because of him. Oh and.." Kyle put his fusion medal in his pocket. "Who said anything about joining _this_ guild?"

"Huh? Isn't that why you dueled that guy? To get in here?" Emily did not see why else he would take a badge. Kyle did state he was going to fight in the tournament. "In here? Not on my life. If you knew half the things these guilds do, you would not want to join one either." Kyle said softly, as if they were being monitored. Which, given what the gang had experienced so far, could very well be the case. "These guilds?" Though Kyle seemed to have forgotten who he was talking to. "Forget it. I said nothing. I'm only here to get the badge so I can apply for an Independent Guild." Kyle tried to change the topic. And while Emily wanted to press the earlier issue more, her sister had heard something fascinating. "Independent Guild? Nobody told me those existed." It sounded like something for people who did not want to choose between XYZs, Fusions or Synchros. "This must be your first competition then. Every tournament can host at least sixteen 'free' duelists. There are tons of smaller guilds; high-ranked groups of individuals. You need to have a badge from each main guild to start your own. That is why I was dueling that guy." Kyle revealed the contents of his pocket; he already had Synchro and XYZ-badges. "A lot of people are independent, like the disciples from Dreamworld."

...

"This is..quite a lot." Uno expected a lot of things when he went up to the next level, like a seat at a table in the discussion room with some fancy tea. "Did Emily have to sign as much as this?" But he also got several dozen forms and papers, waiting at that table. "Definitely not." This was the first time Cassius witnessed anyone register for another guild. "We do things quite differently around here, Cassius." Instead of duelists, the process was overseen by lawyer and the casino's financial managers. The contract they wanted him to sign was theirs. "I was hoping to meet the ladies from before." Uno saw only dull looking men in this room. "They have expressed a desire to not make a public appearance until the first round of the tournament. She will only see you once you are a member." They explained with their drab monotonous had no idea his greatest challenge would be to stay awake.

"Just who do you think I am anyway?" Uno asked as he was curious about one thing; what their record contained. "Only that you are some sort of unlicensed duelist who was chosen by Dreamworld to test out their pendulum technology. Those cards are of interest to us and we can see that the other guilds share that interest." The men in suits glared at Cassius. "The trial duel demonstrated that it has great potential." Their answer did not reveal who gave them that information, but Uno did not expect them to. "Well then. I know what I wanted to know. Gents, I'll get back to you." Uno dumped the entire contract and the medal in a binder. "You are leaving?" If these people were disappointed, they did not look or sound like it. "I am going to take my time to consider your offer. You can't expect me to read all this right here, right?" He handed the binder to Cassius. "So it is. Our phone number is on the back of that medal. Do not lose it. We hope to hear from you soon. Remember that the tournament is less than two weeks away. Choose the proper guild." The men in suits stood up in unison and marched out through the doors.

"That went well enough" Cassius said at the end of it all. "You think? Do they do this for every poor sap who just wants to join them?" Right now the Synchro guild looked the most attractive. But even that felt too stifling. Uno would have time to dwell on his options later, first he wanted to leave this place. "Hey, what is down below anyway?" When the elevator doors opened, Uno noticed there were two floors below the main one. "Probably something similar to what we have; a mainframe and storage facilities." Cassius could only guess. "Let's say so." Right now Uno couldn't do anything to help his curiosity.

Once the two came back down, they caught up with the others and with what they learned. "Uh-huh, an Independent guild. And Iria and Zach are using that to enter the tournament.. When were you going to tell me about that, Cassius?" Uno wished he had been informed about two duels ago. Now their request to have him enter made a lot more sense. "Sorry. I do so many guild tasks that sometimes facts slip my mind. I forgot that option." He claimed. "I wouldn't have advised it in any case. You cannot request specialized extra deck monsters outside of their specific guild. Nor can you use more than 5 of any type." A duelist would be stuck using whatever they could scrounge up. "That does not sound that bad. It'd be nice for people who don't want to be part of a big fight between the three big guys." Alice at least showed interest in the idea. "Maybe. But we can think about that another time. We're done here, right?" Emily did not want stay a minute longer in this flashy madhouse. "I am, for now." Uno said, flipping the medal between his fingers like a coin. "I am too." Eric moaned. As much as he did not want to accept it, he was not going to make progress here anymore. "Right then. Let's take off."

Soon they were back outside, and on the boat. Uno looked back at the casino, Emily argued with Eric.. and Alice approached Cassius. "Aaron. If Uno wanted to join the independent guild. He would need to duel the XYZ guild again, wouldn't he?" She already figured that was true, but she wanted confirmation. "He would have to, yes." He gave it, though he looked at her like he was wondering why she had these questions. An idea was forming in her head. "Aaron. Can you help me with something, pleeeaaase?"

(To be Continued in Annex 020: Just as Bittersweet)

 **Cards used by Kyle  
** Valkyrian Knight  
U.A. Perfect Ace  
U.A. Mighty Slugger  
U.A. Dreadnaught Dunker

-  
The Warrior Returning Alive  
Feast of the Wild LV5  
Solidarity

-  
U.A. Penalty Box

 **Cards used by Julian  
** Elemental HERO Core


	20. Just as Bittersweet

**Annex 020: Just as Bittersweet**

Breakfast at the castle was becoming a common event for the five duelists. It was a shame that it could not last. The tournament was coming and some would have to head north to witness the official opening ceremony. Others, were forced in another direction. _"I must be cursed."_ Erics successes had been nonexistent so far. He was not sure if he could ever break through. He tried his fifth deck in the castle's training rooms, undergoing the same kind of trials that Emily had experienced. He did not succeed. "The cards are not the problem, I am." Alice had offered to let him borrow her deck, which he rejected. All attempts to get in any guild failed. All he had waiting for him now was a guild-escorted return-trip home and mother. He was very quiet this morning.

Uno did not say much either, but he had options at least. Too many options; he was lost in his own thoughts. "Uno? Are you going to finish that?" Uno hadn't touched his food. "Alice, finish your own plate first." Emily admonished her sister for her prodding. Yet Alice was not after a second meal. "Mean! I wasn't gonna do that." She took a very deep breath, to steady her voice. "I just wanted to say something!"

"Okay, you don't have to yell!" Emily covered her ears. "Huh?" She got Uno's attention as well. "I want to.. I want to enter the tournament too!" Alice lowered the volume a notch, but she kept the resolute tone. "You what?" Emily's first reaction was surprise. Her second was alarm. "You didn't want to join the guilds before. You changed your mind?" You had to be a guildmember to enter; Alice could not have forgotten about that rule. "I didn't want to join any of the big guilds; too many things to worry about." Alice was notorious when it came to following regulations or schedules. With that it mind, it was logical which guild she _did_ want to join. "You want to be independent? But, Alice, then we wont be playing for the same team. You're going to have to duel each guild too." Alice did not have a single Medal yet. Emily considered it a lost cause. "That's not true. Aaron told me that two people or more can start a free guild together!" Alice winked at Uno. He caught her plan. "With me.." He had two of the Medals already, he only needed the XYZ-medal. If he had to speak freely, he would say that he preferred being a free duelist as well. But letting others do his dueling was not part of that. "Alice, you don't have to do something like that for me."

"No. This is for me too. I can't join if I don't at least duel one of the guilds by myself. Aaron, helped me with my deck. I'm sure I can handle it now!" All Cassius had done was switch out a few cards from her structure deck. Only because she couldn't part with her Mermails. She had used them for so long. "You have been helping her a lot." Emily did not know what look to give Cassius; not one of joy. "She asked me, over and over.. how could I say no?" As a guildrunner, he wanted to have more people in his guild. But as a childhood friend, he wanted both sisters to be happy. "Alice. Have you thought this through? This wont just be all fun and games." Her big sister said the things she usually said when Alice got a crazy idea. "I did! All night I was thinking about it. And I want it. I want to be a part of it, even if it means dueling against you and Aaron. But I wont be your enemy, it's still a game! If mom let you do it, she'll let me do it too!" That was her final word. She would not be talked out of it by Emily.

"Mom huh..fine. We will just call her and dad, and see what they think." The two were working, as usual. Only on a Sunday could he could drop by, and that was tomorrow. But a phone call could always be made.

...

She wished she hadn't. "I still can't.." She had called them both, and they both condoned it. "Alice.." Now here she was, with Aaron/Uno and her sister, at the golf course that the XYZ Guild had taken over only three days ago. "Don't they know.." All her parents had said was that this would be good for their daughters, both of them. Her father also asked to look after Alice if anything went wrong. That was it, that was the exact opposite of what they should have said. "What don't they know?" Uno wondered why Emily seemed so stressed and why she talked to herself so much. It was a rare sight. "Nothing. Alice is just.. she gets upset just as easily as she gets happy. I don't want her to become scared of something she likes so much. Jet was bad enough. This guild is nothing but bad people."

"Well.. at least it does not seem like the worst are here." The golfcourse had changed a bit these last few days. The entire course had been dismantled and the people who worked here were nowhere to be seen. Neither was Adamant or most of his 'soldiers'. "Adamant never sticks around, he always moves from one prey to the next." Cassius said with scorn. He hated seeing what the XYZ-guild had done to this place. They were not just content with being a sponsor, they wanted to re-purpose everything. "Now I will never get to play golf. Aw..well.. Excuse me!" Even the man behind the desk, whose attention Alice was trying to get, had a new face. "I want to duel someone here! If I can." Her cries were heard by a thin shorthaired man in black uniform. One of the few XYZ-guilders still present. "Oh my oh my. You want to join _us_?" He looked down on Alice with narrow eyes. "Uh yeah.. Oh..no! I just want to have your shiny badge, so I can start my own guild!" Alice explained. A snake-like smile appeared on the mans face. "What a shame, I do not have time to duel applicants. But I know someone who can. Oh Liza!"

"What do you want Ichirou?" A blond ponytailed woman answered the mans call. "We have visitors." Ichirou said and went back to his own tasks. "Oh? Ah, good good.. I was beginning to get bored here." Liza walked in further and spotted the four duelists. "Oh I remember you. You were that pendulum guy. You here for a retry?" She asked, with a hopeful glow in her eyes. "Maybe." Uno did have his deck with him, but not his own dueldisk. "But someone else asked first." That way he could show how confident he was in his 'partner'. Uno took a step back. "Someone else? Well not you two then." Liza could spot synchro guilders like Emily and Cassius a mile away. "So you're the lucky one." Her eyes fell on Alice. "Yep! Nice to meet you Liza! Your name is kinda like mine. Mine is Alice." Liza seemed a little disappointed, but still satisfied. "Cute. Well, follow me." She nodded to Ichirou and led the duelists deeper into the clubhouse. "Wow." The inside looked just as different, the guildsmen were rebuilding the poolhall into an exercise room. They were the only ones inside right now though. "Kay, Alice. You up for this?." Liza activated her dueldisk, a simplistic grey model. "I do." Alice turned on her synchro guilds disk. "Ah. No going back now then."

Alice's LP: 8000 Liza's LP: 8000

"Let's get down to it." The disks connected and started the fight. "Good luck, Alice." Uno and the others stood against the walls and watched. Emily was silently praying for a good end to this. "Before we begin, what do you want for my ante?" Liza had already decided what she wanted. "Oh, the ante... Uhhh.. If I win, just give me what you will miss the least." Alice had little interest in that aspect of the duel. "Hmm. You are right to not want to be one of us, sweetie. Too bad that also means you do not have much hope against us." The first turn was given to Liza. "I shall activate Madolche Ticket." The nature of her deck was revealed with a continuous spell card. Its effect went unused this turn as Liza played defensively. She placed a trap card down and set one monster before her. "Your turn, little Alice."

"Okay. Here I go!" Alice drew her cards. "Oh..mmh." She had so many things she could try, she did not know where to begin. "I will use your card, Aaron! I summon Deepsea Diva!" So Alice summoned a pink-scaled mermaid(2/200/400); a tuner monster. "Diva will summon a level 1, 2 or 3 seaserpent from my deck. I choose this guy: Neptabyss The Atlantean Prince!" Deepsea Diva's song summoned the prince of Atlantis(1/800/0) in defense mode. "Just level 1?" Liza had expected something with more weight to it. "Is she going to summon a synchro monster?" Uno realized that with the Diva and Prince, Alice could perform a level 3 synchro summon. "No. She wouldn't, because she can't. She did not want any synchro monsters from me." Even though Cassius was allowed to give non-guild duelists their own extra deck monsters, Alice had adamantly refused them. "I have a different plan! Neptabyss' can send a seaserpent from my deck to the grave, and add another one to my hand. That's what I will.."

"Eh. I was going to let this play out, but it seems you won't bring out any big target, so.." Liza flipped a counter trap card. "I strike Neptabyss down instead. Madolche Nights! Since there are no monsters in my graveyard, your monsters effect will be negated!" A dark shadow fell over the Atlantean prince. His effect was shut down by Madolche Night. "Well that's not good." Alice's grand scheme had been cut down before its prime. "I will.. set this card down! Now its your turn." She placed a trap of her own, but things looked pretty bad for her monsters. "Such small critters. I don't need my XYZ-monsters for them." Liza's lips curled into a smile, and she drew her card. "I flip my monster card; Madolche Marmalmaid!" The first monster that she summoned was revealed was a tiny housemaid(4/800/2000) with short red hair. "Oh, that's adorable." Alice was happy to see a monster like that. It was not something she expected out a duelist like Liza.

"Yeah, so I keep hearing. But, sweetie, I am not using her for her looks." The monsters effect was activated. "Marmalmaid adds a used up Madolche card back to my hand when she is flip summoned." The trap card, Madolche Nights, was taken from the graveyard. "And now Madolche Ticket's effect joins in on the chain. Whenever a Madolche card is returned to my hand or deck, I can add a new Madolche monster from the deck to my hand! This card will do, Madolche Butlerusk!" Liza pulled a monster from her deck that she immediately normal summoned; a monocle-wearing buttler-type spellcaster(4/1500/800). "Butlerusk finds a field spell for me!" The butlers effect searched the deck and found the spell Liza desired. "Spell card, Madolche Chateau! My Madolches will all gain 500 attack and defense points!" A tall castle, made entirely out of cake and frosting, rose up towards the ceiling. Butlerusk(2000/1300) and Marmalmaid(1300/2500) enjoyed some of the cake and strengthened themselves with it. "Brace yourself, Alice darling. This is the battle phase!"

"Wait!" Alice held up her hand. "Hmm?" Liza's monsters paused mid-charge. "Before you attack, I want to use a trap. Spiritual Water Art Aoi." Her set card spun around and targeted Deep sea Diva. "I'll tribute one water monster, to send one card in your hand to the graveyard. So I need to see your hand." The Diva was absorbed by the water which splashed Liza's cards. "You wanna take a peek, do you?" Liza revealed the three cards in her hand; Madolche Messengelato, Jar of Avarice, Madolche Teabreak and Madolche Nights. "Can you discard the monster?" Messengelato was the one she forced Liza to let go. "Clever little girl. You only caught a glimpse and you already figured out that both my traps will be useless with monsters in the graveyard. Still.." The battle phase could now continue. Marmalmaid smacked prince Neptabyss with her book, to knock him down. "If it means a little more damage, you wont hear me complain." Butlerusk threw his teacup at Alice, shattering it to deliver direct damage. "Eeh. I almost thought that really would hurt me.." Alice had covered her face as a reflex. "You're not used to dueldisks or something?" Liza placed her two trap cards down and ended the turn.

Alice's LP: 6000

"This is only my third duel with them." She admitted. "But, I have been using these cards for longer than that. I know a few cool moves." It was her turn again. "Mermail Abyssnose!" Alice normal summoned what appeared to be nosefish/man Mermail(4/1500/1500) in armor. "Like I know the Atlanteans best friends are the Mermails! When Abyssnose attacks.." Her counterattack commenced. The Mermail moved through the room as if the air was water.. "You don't have to tell me, darling." Liza already knew that Abyssnose could special summon Mermails in defense, whenever it destroyed a monster as a result of battle. So when Mermail Abyssnose killed Madolche Marmalmaid with a smack from its tail, Mermail Abysshilde (3/1300/400) was special summoned from Alice's deck. But Alice had to discard a level 3 or lower water monster to use Abyssnose's power. "I discarded Atlantean Heavy Infantry!" Heavy Infantry destroyed face-up cards whenever it was sent to the graveyard to activate a water-monsters effect. "I destroy Butlerusk!" The Atlantean's spirit resurfaced to crush the Butler with his shield.

Liza's LP: 7800

"Oh. You shouldn't have done that, Alice." When the two monster cards died, they left their platforms behind; puzzle pieces made from a waffle and a sandwich cookie. "Madolches do not stay in the grave, when they are destroyed. They return to the deck right away!" The cake chateau absorbed the puzzle pieces. "And by the effect of Madolche Chateau they return to me instead!" Any Madolche sent to the deck, by the effect of a Madolche monster, could be placed in their owners hand instead. Chateau's effect activated for both Butlerusk and Marmalmaid. "In addition to my field spell, my continuous spell uses its power!" Because a Madolche card had been returned from the graveyard, Madolche Ticket gave Liza another new Madolche monster to pick from the deck; Madolche Anjelly. "Oh no." Alice would have been wiser to destroy one of her spells. "Hmm. I will set these.. and end my turn." A spell and two traps were placed face-down. "Three of them? You must be getting nervous, sweetie. Well, it will not take much longer now."

"Draw!" Liza added another card to her bountiful hand. "I summon this card, Madolche Anjelly." A piece of red jelly landed on the floor. A tiny angel(4/1500/1500) in a white dress frolicked on top. "Anjelly may sacrifice herself to special summon a Madolche from my deck." The angel disappeared into the ground, and the gelatin transformed into cake. "Madolche Hootcake." An bespectacled Owl(4/2000/1100) in dapper clothes perched down on the cake. "Hootcake banishes one Madolche from the graveyard, to special summon another from my deck." The Cake owl consumed the first Madolche Messengelato in the cemetery, and connected a biscuit piece to his own platform. "Madolche Messengelato!" A second Messengelato, the caped mailman(4/2100/1500) of the Madolches, was summoned. Its effect activated whenever someone special summoned it to join a beast-type Madolche monster, like Hootcake. "Messengelato will 'mail' me a Madolche spell or trap card from my deck." The mailman handed Liza the Madolche Waltz trap card.

"Ugh. She is playing with the gloves off." Emily had almost forgotten how insane the turns of an XYZ-duelist could get. "She still has a chance, Emily." Cassius said with a little more optimism. "I heard that." Liza glared at her audience, at Uno in particular. "This duel is just about wrapped up, darlings. Alice here is precious, but she is no match for me. No, I have my eyes set on some bigger fish." The bigger fish could tell who she was talking about. "I am not here to join you, Liza. Alice is your opponent." Uno still had faith that she would be able to take care of this. "No? Nice try hiding it. You may not have your disk with you, but I can tell by your face that you want to fight." Liza turned back to face Alice. "But first, I will settle with you. You knew this was going to happen." The woman placed Madolche Messengelato on top of Hootcake. "I will use these as materials for a rank 4 Xyz-monster!" A colorful portal was created, the two monsters were overlayed to start the XYZ-summon process. "Madolche Queen Tiaramisu!" The queen of the Madolche(4/2700/2600) arrived, seated on a throne of tiramisu cake.

"Probably bad news." Alice loved Tiramisu, but the way things appeared... she wouldn't love this monster.

...

Eric was still at the castle, packing up his stuff. There was not much of it, just his collection of failed decks. Had he not been told by his mother to come back home, he would not have gone with Alice and the others anyway. He knew he stood no chance. _"Guess this is as close as I will get to being a real duelist."_ Eric looked at a pile of dueldisks on the table. Cassius let him keep one as a memento, and Uno had left his. "...Hello?" He only one had one more chance. Eric turned Uno's disk on and started talking at the thing. "Hey, lady Silver? Anyone? I know you said you'd be listening in on us. I'd like to talk with you about something, I could help you. Maybe not with Uno, but something else.. those counterfeiters, the guilds maybe... I don't know." Eric stopped once he realized how crazy he must be looking right now. There was no guarantee anyone was listening right now. Mom would probably say he was playing his games too much. _"Just give it up Eric. You.. ey?"_ The disk was flashing a blinking red light. _"Oh no! Did I break it?!"_ Red lights were never a good sign. The light however was indicating an incoming transmission.

"You are alone." Uno's disk shot out light to project the image of a woman; Iria Silver. "Oh my god. It is you!" The female disciple was here, albeit not physically. "You are Eric Stonewell. You ask for our help? What do you expect from us? That we arrange a seat for you at the tournament? What would we get in return?" Her steely gaze sent shocks down Eric's spine, despite him being the one to summon her. "Uh..I.." Eric took what felt like hours to collect his nerves. "Name anything, I will do anything you ask! Just let me be of help to you.. to dreamworld!"

(To be Continued in Annex 021: Part of their World)

 **Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Deepsea Diva  
Neptabyss the Atlantean Prince  
Mermail Abyssnose

-  
Spiritual Water Art - Aoi

 **Cards used by Liza  
** Madolche Marmalmaid  
Madolche Butlerusk  
Madolche Hootcake  
Madolche Anjelly  
Madolche Messengelato

-  
Madolche Queen Tiaramisu

-  
Madolche Ticket  
Madolche Chateau

-  
Madolche Nights


	21. Part of Their World

**Annex 021: Part of their World**

Alice's LP: 6000 Liza's LP: 7800

Liza was dueling for real now. "The Queen can return monsters to a players deck, up to the number of dead Madolche cards she returns to the deck!" Her XYZ-monster, Madolche Queen Tiaramisu(4/2700/2600), detached one of her XYZ-materials, Madolche Messengelato, to activate her effect. Now she had two cards she could return, Madolche Anjelly and Messengelato. "Say goodbye to your Mermails, sweetie." The Queen waved her scepter around to dismiss both Mermail Abyssnose(4/1500/1500) and Mermail Abysshilde(3/1300/400). "This duel is making me hungry.. Ah! I mean.." Alice focused her mind and flipped one of her set cards. "I use Call of the Atlanteans and bring three level 3 seaserpents back to life!" The quickplay spell could special summon the two Atlanteans and Deepsea Diva from the graveyard, if Liza allowed it. "You should have done that sooner." But Liza countered with a countertrap. "Madolche Teabreak. Your spell is sealed and it is sent back to your hand!" Now that there were no more Madolches in the graveyard, Liza's traps had been reactivated.

"Oh. Can I activate my trap then? Aqua Mirror Cycle!" The Aquamirror returned one water monster on the field to the deck, to recycle two water monsters in the graveyard. Abysshilde was already being forced into the deck, so Alice might as well do it herself. "I take the Atlanteans!" The Atleantean Prince Neptabyss and his Heavy Infantry were placed back in the girls hand. "That is funny, I'll do the same." Because of Madolche Chateau, the returned Messengelato and Anjelly were sent to Liza's hands instead. "By the by, if I control a fairy-type Madolche, Madolche Ticket can special summon a new Madolche from my deck instead of putting it in my hand." With the Ticket spell, which activated after the two cards returned to Liza's hand, Madolche Puddingcess was summoned. A longhaired blonde princess(5/1500/1500) joined her queen. "Puddingcess gains 800 attack and defense points if there are no monsters in my graveyard!" The princess boosted her(2300/2300) own body. "Together, they will launch their assault!" The royal pair attacked with a rain of cakes and puddings."I set three cards in the spell/trap zone. End turn!"

Alice's LP: 1000

"Why couldn't it be real cakes instead?" At least then the damage would be worth it, Alice sighed. "Get back in the game, Alice! You can have cake later!" Emily shouted at her sister. She was already doing bad enough without distracting herself. "You think I still can do it?!" Alice was not as hopeful. Until she entered her drawphase. "Maybe..I can. I see something!" She normal summoned Neptabyss the Atlantean Prince(1/800/0). "That again? You remember what happened the last time, don't you?" Liza had Madolche Nights set. That countertrap would block the Prince again, if she dared to use him. "Yeah. I also remember when and where you placed it." Alice played the spell/trap destroyer, Mystical Space Typhoon. "!" The typhoon spell card claimed the leftmost trap card, which turned out to be Madolche Nights. "Not playing around this time!" Neptabyss was now free to use his ability. It discarded Atlantean Dragoons from Alice's deck to add Mermail Abyssmegalo from the deck to Alice's hand. "Heehee." Dragoons' own effect activated afterwards, as it had been sent to the grave for a water-monster's effect. Alice could choose any seaserpent in her deck, and take it. "Atlantean Heavy Infantry!" She went with a second copy of a card she already had. "Wanna know what happens next?"

"By sending two water monsters out of my hand, I may special summon this big guy in attack mode; Abyssmegalo!" Both Infantry atlanteans were discarded, so that the mighty red shark knight(7/2400/1900) could break to the surface. "I know yeah." This was the second time Liza's opponent had triggered those Atlanteans. With two Heavy Infantry serpents sacrificed, two face-up cards would be destroyed. "The ones that should go are your monsters." Alice targeted the Queen and Princess. They were mashed into a puddle of cake and pudding. Liza could at least return the destroyed Puddingcess back to her hand, but Tiaramisu and her attachment had to go the graveyard. That Madolche lacked a graveyard-recursion effect. And with the effect of Madolche Ticket, Liza added another Madolche to her hand; Madolche Mewfeuille. "You're going for the killing blow?"

"I can't be not-serious if my lifepoints are this low." Alice said as she pulled a spell from her deck. Abyssmegalo could search an Abyss spell or trap card, once it special summoned itself with its own ability. "Abyssmegalo goes for Abysscale of the Mizuchi!" Alice took the magic-negating equip spell and equipped it to her shark knight. Mizuchi's scales added 800 attackpoints to the Mermail(7/3200/1900). "More! Megalo needs to eat a monster, if he wants to attack twice this turn!" The shark devoured the prince Neptabyss whole, and its full potential was unlocked. However Neptabyss could use its own effect, now that it had been sent to the grave for a water-monsters effect. "Neptabyss special summons an Atlantean from the graveyard!" The prince's second power resurrected Atlantean Dragoons, the gold and silver dragon riders(4/1800/0), in attack mode. "Battle time! Go, go, go!" Both seaserpents blasted towards the defenseless Liza.

"8000.." Cassius counted the combined attackpoints from all three upcoming attacks. "Is she going to do it already!?"

"I have other plans!" Liza activated a trap before the first hit landed. "Madolchepalooza! I can special summon as many Madolches from my hand as I want!" With that one card Liza summoned three Madolche monsters in defense mode; Butlerusk(4/2000/1300), Marmailmaid(4/1300/2500) and Messengelato(4/2100/1000). "Whoops.. Abort! Abort!" Abyssmegalo and the Dragoons stopped on a dime and swam right back to their master. "Huh? Why aren't you attacking them at least?" Emily thought she could at least damage these monsters, even if Liza couldn't be hit. "Because Madolchepalooza returns every monster it summons, back to the deck." Alice explained. She had read the full text of that trap before she made her decision. "The field spell will just force them into Liza's hand if I destroy them with attacks." Alice moved out of her battle phase. She placed Call of the Atlanteans back down in a spell zone. "Better to let them leave. That was my turn." So the endphase came, and the deck reclaimed the maid/butler and messenger on the field.

"You are getting too smart for your own good, little Alice. I was going to use that trap for my turn, but you left me no choice." Liza could not afford to take it easy anymore either. She had a lot of lifepoints. However Abyssmegalo could take off entire chunks at once. "No more fancy crap." Liza normal summoned Madolche Anjelly(4/1500/1500) and flipped one of her other trap cards; Jar of Avarice. "With this trap I recycle five of my dead cards to draw one new cards." Madolche Queen Tiaramisu, Hootcake and the three traps were all sent back into their respective decks. "That re-triggers Madolche Ticket." Her continuous spell almost summoned another Madolche from the deck as Anjelly was a fairy-type Madolche. "Oh, not so quick! Abysscale of the Mizuchi stops the first spell that is activated, by destroying itself!" Madolche Ticket fizzled out. The scales were unequiped from Abyssmegalo(2400/1900) and sent to the grave.

"As if I did not see that coming, darling." Liza lost that exchange on purpose. "Now there is nothing in my way. _You_ will not stain my rank in this guild!" Liza tributed Anjelly for the Madolche's own effect. It special summoned a second Madolche Puddingcess(5/1500/1500) from the deck. Though with one monster in the graveyard, the Princess could not enjoy her 800 attackpoint-boost. "I control a level 5 monster, so with XYZ reception I can summon another level 5 monster from my hand." Liza used the spell she had drawn to summon the first Puddingcess(5/0/0). XYZ Reception negated the summoned monsters effects and reduced its stats to nothing. "XYZ-summon!" Liza did not care, she was here for bigger things. Both Puddingcesses were overlayed into one brand new pudding royalty. "Puddingcess Chocolat-a-la-Mode!" The princess wore a dark dress and stood on top of a massive chocolate cake. She(5/3000/3000) was not so little anymore.

"Take a good look. Chocolat returns one monster from my grave to my deck. And if one of her attached materials is the original Puddingcess, she detach a card to special summon any Madolche monster from my deck to the field!" The princess poured chocolate sauce on the ground to cleanse the remains of Anjelly. The angel switched places with a monster in the deck. "Madolche Chouxvalier!" A corsair horseman(4/2200/1800) and his tiny horse rode down the roads of the Chateau. Their puzzle piece linked with the Chocolate-princess. "You wont win, Alice. I cant let you." She started the battle phase. "Why not? Is it because of the tournament?" Before she could attack, Uno had to ask her something. Like Meridian before her, Liza seemed to dread the chance of not being chosen for the comperition. Uno just didn't understand. "It's not the money. You wouldn't understand! Now hush!" She declared her attack; the rank 5 Madolche monster unleashed the fiercest storm of cakes and candies yet. The target was Atlantean Dragoons.

"But the others, will they be less nice to you if you lose?" Alice almost let the attack connect. Her lifepoints wouldn't weather that damage. "I'm sorry.. I want to go on too! I'm having too much fun to stop!" Alice unveiled her final trap, Impenetrable Defense. "What now?!" That trap prevented the death of her monster for the rest of her turn, by switching it to defense position. "When did you.. Why do you have a card like that?" Liza had forgotten Alice had set that card at the start of the game. "Because it's something my sister gave me a long time ago." It was less a tactical addition to her deck, and more something she did to imitate a nice move she had seen Emily use once. "You think you can afford to duel like that? People like you will be eaten alive at the tournament!" Battle damage was not going to touch her opponent now, but Liza still had burn effects. "Madolche Waltz! Every time a Madolche does battle, you will lose 300 lifepoints!" So by flipping her continuous trap, she could inflict 300 points of damage with Puddingcess' failed attack. Chouxvalier started his own attack on the protected Dragoons to inflict another 300 points of damage.

Alice's LP: 400

 _Impenetrable Defense, Normal Trap  
_ _Target 1 monster on the field_ _, switch it to defense position if it is in attack-position, then activate 1 of the following effects depending on the DEF of that monster.  
_ _● Less than 1500 DEF:_ _The monster cannot be destroyed by battle this turn.  
_ _● 1500 DEF or More:_ _The monster is unaffected by card effect(s) this turn._

"Maybe. At first I thought this would be a bit scary..you were taking it so seriously. But then I told myself that this is just a game. It is a game I like playing and, knock on wood, am pretty good at." Once the battle phase ended, Alice flipped Call of the Atlanteans. "Good enough to know when to use a spell like this. Let's try the Atlanteans again!" With that spell card she could resummon The Atlanteans in her graveyard; Neptabyss and the Heavy Infantry mermen(3/0/1600). She wanted to use this spell on Liza's turn as it shut down a player special summons for one turn. "What are you planning?" Liza herself did not see where this was headed. Atlantean Dragoons gave level 3 or lower seaserpents the permission to attack directly, but those three could barely put a dent in her lifepoints. "If you had synchro monsters, you could have revived Deepsea Diva instead. But you don't." Liza placed a trap card down on her field and ended her turn. "Nobody has ever won a tournament without an extra deck!"

"I wont know about that, until I try. And if I never try, like Emily did. I wont like myself." Alice drew her card. "And what I want to do now is.. this." She activated Abyssmegalo's effect again. It sacrificed a water-monster to give itself a second attack for the next battlephase. The sacrifice was Atlantean Dragoons. "I use the effect of the Dragoons!" Alice repeated what she did the last time the dragonriders were sent to the grave; finding a seaserpent in her deck and giving it to herself. "I choose, Poseidra the Atlantean Dragon!" Her choice was obvious. Her gameplan became obvious. "You have that card?!" Liza was amazed that any duelist still used the Atlantean King. Most decks worked better without it. But Alice could not let this one go. She was glad she hadn't. "Yup! I can tribute three level 3 or lower seaserpents to special summon Poseidra!" Neptabyss and the Infantry Atlanteans were swallowed by a large wave, and the ocean released the mighty blue-scaled and gold-spiked dragon Poseidra(7/2800/2600).

Of course, the sacrificed Atlanteans reproduced their effects as well. Neptabyss special summoned Atlantean Dragoons from the graveyard. The Infantry mermen destroyed Madolche Puddingcess Chocolat-a-la-Mode and Madolche Chouxvalier. "Poseidra has a power too! He returns all spells or traps on the field to a players hand!" The Atlantean king created an even bigger wave to wash the field clean. The chateau was reduced to a puddle of soggy cake. Madolche Ticket, Waltz and Liza's set trap card were swept away. "You did. You actually did it." The writing was on the wall for the XYZ-duelist. There was no defending against this. "You were strong too Liza. But nobody wins them all." Alice had a big grin on her face. That was what victory felt like. "Just get it over with." Liza could not share her mentality. "Yes sir!" Four attacks came. Abyssmegalo struck twice with his chompers. The Dragon rider charged in with their lances. And the finishing blow was made with Poseidra's large claws. It was a total blowout.

Liza's LP: 0

"Woo-hoo! Yes! Did you guys see that!?" Alice psyched herself out as the duel finally concluded. "We sure did. Great work, Alice!" Cassius was the first to congratulate her. "I couldn't have done it better myself, Alice." Uno had been so enthralled with the duel itself that he nearly forgot what she dueld for to begin with. But that could wait. "Em? What did you think?" Alice wanted to hear from her sister the most. She always had something to say about anything, yet she was seemingly awestruck into silence now. "I.. wow. I can see I worried too much. That went.. I knew you could do it, but still I.." Every time it looked like things would go south, Emily felt a heavy lump in her throat. That feeling was all gone now. Perhaps she had been underestimating her little sister. "I get it, Em. You just wanted to protect me. And maybe I would have done better if I did have synchro monsters. Maybe I wouldn't almost have lost. But this way it was more exciting, you know? Like, I really fought for it."

"You did. So here." Liza broke up their chat and handed Alice the medal with the XYZ-guilds symbol on it. "That was what you wanted. You also get to take whatever you want from my deck since." Liza had not pressed the issue before since he did not imagine it would get to this point. "But I already told you that I only want what you won't miss. If you have to give something away at all." Alice already had what she came for. However the XYZ-guild was strict about their rules. "Suit yourself." Liza tossed a card her way. "Oh!" Alice caught a trap card; Jar of Avarice. "Thank you. I'll be sure to use it!" A card of this nature could easily fit in any deck. "Hmm. How far set back were you?" Now Uno wanted to sate his own curiosity. "Not far enough to be knocked out of the running. I just have to do more work now." Liza was not completely enraged for a reason. "Oh so you get to duel more. That's not that bad, is it?" In fact Alice saw an upside to it. "There is a limit to how much sugary sweetness I can take.. darling. Get outta here before I start to hurl. If one of your friends wants a challenge, they can pick someone else."

"No thanks, we're good." Said Emily. The trio of duelists needed nothing else from this guild. "We'll go."

"So.. we have three of these, together. How do we start a guild with them?" Uno could not see it being a simple process, not in this crazy world. "Don't ask me. I run my own guild." Cassius was quick to say. "If it is anything like mine, you need to run it by dreamworlds people, before it becomes official. They can provide you with better cards afterwards. Also you two would still need to have a few more duels if you want to rank high enough to enter the tournament. Now personally I'd prefer it if you did not duel my people. We have little representatives as is." If Uno and Alice defeated duelists from the Fusion or XYZ-guild instead, at least they would remove a few of them from the overall bracket. "Only 64 people can enter.." It was not going to be easy. "Maybe we can let Eric in our guild too? He would like that!" Eric could get better cards that way, for free. "He can only join an independent guild if he beats one of you though, Alice. Or he can slide in if he has a Fusion or Synchro medal already. I think. Again, I am not an expert." They would have to tell Eric about it first and see what he thought about it.

Except... Eric was gone by the time they got back. He was nowhere in the castle. "He did not wait for us?" Uno wished he had gotten the chance to say goodbye to him. "We did leave him all alone." Alice wondered if he had felt betrayed somehow. "He _wanted_ to stay behind! Ugh, if he felt lonely he should have come with us!" Emily grumbled. Sometimes that kid could be so frustrating. "I checked with Akai, she was the one to give him a ride home. He didn't say anything to her either, just that he wanted to go. Maybe he was out of time? I am sorry either way." Cassius figured this was just inevitability, Eric had to leave regardless. "He will call us I am sure. You three need to focus on tomorrow. That big presentation of Dreamworld is gonna be given at the capitol. That is probably the perfect time to approach them about your guild." Reaching the capitol would require a few hours worth of driving, so they would need to wake up early. "Maybe then we can see dad?" Alice and Emily's father would be off that day. "I was gonna call him and mom in any case. But yeah, we have done what we can." Emily looked at Uno. "Tomorrow is the big day."

"Yeah." Uno nodded. _"The Capitol; dreamworld's center. That is where the 'Other UNO' is supposed to be. Now I should finally have everything they asked for."_

(To be Continued in Annex 022: Showtime)

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Mermail Abyssmegalo  
Poseidra, the Atlantean Dragon

-  
Call of the Atlanteans  
Mystical Space Typhoon

-  
 _Impenetrable Defense_

 **New Cards used by Liza  
** Madolche Puddingcess  
Madolche Chouxvalier

-  
Madolche Puddingcess Chocolat-a-la-Mode

-  
XYZ Reception

-  
Madolche Teabreak  
Madolchepalooza  
Jar of Avarice  
Madolche Waltz


	22. Showtime

**Annex 022: Showtime**

It had been a few good years since the Brandts last saw a train, much less a place full of trains. And Uno could not visually recall ever taking one either naturally. So it was a change of pace for them as they waited for Mr. Brandt to arrive at the capitols station central. It was the fastest way to travel when you had no care to use. "Hey-hey. There you all are!" James walked out of the train with a big smile. "Dad!" His two daughters jumped right at him. "Whoa, careful now. I'm excited to see you too, but let me put some stuff down first." He placed his luggage against the wall. "Now, first things first. How is the truck?" He inquired. "Daaad." Emily knew she was only teasing them, but she was still exasperated that he could ask them that. "Just kidding. Of course I missed you two a lot more this whole crazy week. Though my working self missed the car too." He laughed and took a good look at them. "Still in good shape I see! You've done so well on your own. I'm proud of you both."

"Well, we did have help." Alice conceded. "Oh yeah." Uno and Cassius were here too. "Aaron! Lord it's been ages. You look very different." James remembered him from when he was just a scraggy-looking youngster. "And Uno. I heard that you still did not get your memories back. I'm sorry to hear it." Uno was the one who had changed the least. "No need to be sorry for what you didn't do." Uno was already happy enough on this day. Seeing this reunion was the icing on the cake. "Hm, yes, you'll have to give me the full story. I only caught pieces of it so far, but I have all day now." He had to get back to work tomorrow, which he would worry about that later. "I will ask the boss if I can take the next week off, so I can watch you girls at the tournament. If I can't, I am sure mom will cover for me." Either way it was being televised, live. So there was no way he would miss their duels. If they could make it. "So why did we come all the way here? An event was going down in the capitol?"

The road to dreamworld HQ was long and James had a lot of questions; about their adventures, what medals they had won and why Emily was wearing a jacket with a synchro patch on it. They answered each one and in return they asked him how the town had been since their departure. One name in particular came up. "No. I didn't see Eric, he holed himself up in his room. His mother didn't know why he came back in a hurry, but she wasn't complaining, so I assume he came back in one piece." That was all the light he could shed on the subject of the Stonewells. "I hope he isn't too mad. Maybe we can get him seat tickets for the big showdowns?" Alice thought that would at least make him feel a little bit better. "We arent that rich. Why are tickets so expensive anyway?" Emily had informed herself on how much it would cost to get her parents seats. The best places took hundreds. "That is just the way things are. What you pay for a live duel is about what you pay for a secret rare hard-to-get card." Cassius did not like it, but he could not get around the fact that keeping guilds required income. That was why his guild had so many sponsorship deals.

"Hey. I think we made it." Uno stopped walking. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to. "What gave it away? The duelists or the huge-ass tower?" Emily could barely see ahead due to the massive crowd blocking their way. Though it was impossible to not lay eyes on the tower at the center of the masses. "Dreamworld Technologies." The building was huge; an immense skyscraper with countless stories. Uno felt a shiver ran up and down his body; somewhere inside he would find his namesake. "Looks like a lot of your friends made it too, Aaron." Brandt noted several duelists with synchro symbols on their clothes, spread across the streets. "I expect a lot of guilds will be here." While the greater percentage was formed by guildless duelists; members of the fusion guild could be spotted here and there. Then there was the XYZ-guild. They were all neatly standing close together like they a military squad. "None of the bigwigs though." Cassius spotted neither Adamant nor the Fusions champion, whoever he or she was now.

"But anyway. The press release whatever is not for a while, so maybe we can find a backdoor." Uno was not gonna let anybody slow him down, now that he was this close.

The gang took a roundabout route that led them to an entrance in the building. "State your intentions, please." There it was fiercely guarded by a woman behind a counter. "Uh.. we want to start a guild? We have the medals." Alice and Uno showed her the three guild symbols. But the woman remained unflappable. "You should make an appointment for that, right now is not a proper time." The door stayed shut. Uno twitched. "Hey. I know your bosses are probably watching and listening." Cameras were obviously pointed their way. "So tell them that Uno is here." They would know how to react to that, if she could not. "I don't see.." A scratching sound stopped her from rebuking him. A message was transmitted to her station. "Let them pass Daisy." The slight distortion did not mask the familiarity of this accent. "Sir I.." Daisy might have wanted to stick to protocol. "If you insist." But the voice overruled that. "Yes sir." The woman opened the door for them.

"Wasn't that.." Even James recognized that eccentric voice, it had only been a week ago since he had chased its owner out of his town. "Hey!" Alice suddenly shouted. "It is that Zach-guy!" The secret was squashed quickly, because Zach Creffield was already there to meet them on the ground floor. "Good morning to you all! Or is it afternoon? It is, isn't it? Time flies when it wants to. How nice to see you all again, back together!" He was jovial in spite of everything, including the presence of the father. "We came, just as you said we should." Uno stepped forward while he surveyed the area. There was nobody else inside, beyond the entrance. This was just the waiting room. "True. You are duelists of your word. On that note, you do not need to be wary of miss Silver. She has her own errands to run." They would only be seeing one disciple today. "Now then. What is this I hear about an independent guild? I have to say, I did not expect you to take that road, Uno. Dividing yourselves between two guilds seems like such a shame."

"Hey! What we do is our business." Emily rasped. "Yeah! Wouldn't we have to duel each other anyway if we all entered the tournament?" Alice backed her sister up. "Not right away, actually. The bracket is usually seeded so that guild members do not duel each other in the first few rounds." Cassius said, taking the wind out of their sails. "Thanks Aaron.. But still, this is what Uno and Alice want." Emily would not change her mind, nor could she change theirs. "Oh, I am not one to argue. If you want a guild, I can easily arrange one. It is done all the time. I have seen your names climb the charts, slowly. You would only need a few more victories against highlevel duelists to get seeded." And they had time to do so. "That is all so I can make your boss happy, eh? Does he expect me to win everything?" Uno did not have that much confidence in himself. "Oh no. You just need to show you are as good as us. I'm playing this year as well, mind you. I am quite good at that, winning second place last year." Zach liked to brag, but he was also saying it as a warning. "Second place? Who was first?" Alice asked. Cassius knew the answer to that one. "That was Adamant. He was the one who led the XYZ-guild to its current state. He.."

Cassius could not get another word out. A lot of noise drowned out the silence and the chatter. "Huh?" It came from the outside; cries of a hundred duelists. "Oh no. He didn't.." Zach eyes went wide with dismay. "He who? He what?" Alice noticed Zach had at least some idea of what was going on outside. "My master, he moved up the schedule. He is making his grand entrance early. He should run these things by me!" Zach broke into a sprint, calling for security to move into position. "Hey! Wait.." Uno was right on his tail. "We probably should see this!" The rest tried to match their speed. They made it just in time, going out through one of the side doors. "Where is.. above?" Emily followed the direction of the duelists eyes and looked upwards. "No way." A shape leaped from the top, all the way down to the bottom. "Eeee!" It almost looked like the person would fall to his death on a stage, right in front of the crowd. Alice didn't want to watch. "Wait, look!" Mr. Brandt shouted. The man never landed. "He.. is flying?"

Seconds before impact the man turned around and blasted back up again, he soared through the air in some kind of winged armor that had jet thrusters for stability. "Oh lord. He used the new aerial armor." Zach covered his mouth and then slapped his forehead. " _That_ is your boss?" It was not exactly what Emily expected from the head of a major company. "Yeh.. that is my boss, Master Dom."

"GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE!" The flying man came down to the stage that was set out for him. A mike flipped out of his one sleeve once both feet were on solid ground. "ARE YOU ALL ENTERTAINED?" He shouted to the crowd, and received an unrestrained uproar in return. Only the XYZ-guild retained their silent demeanor. "Well.. can't please them all! Of course you didn't come all the way out here for some old nut with a jetpack. Am I Right?" He spun his hand and listened to the screams. They were calling out for cards and duels. "Of course I am! You came here for my newest toy!" The man took off his armor, as the wings collapsed inwards. Underneath was a dazzling suit, covered with lights and glitter. "What in the.." James whispered as the scene turned from strange to stranger. "Why is he wearing a mask?" Master Dom had a second cover for his entire face underneath the helmet; a smooth dome with the colors of a dueling cards face-down side. "The Master has never shown his face to the public. He claims it makes it easier to talk to the common folk." Zach explained.

And Dom continued. With another snap of his fingers, a dueldisk materialized out of his other sleeve. It appeared so suddenly, one would think it was magic. "WELL WELL, LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE! What better way to get the point across? A boring lecture or just some update on the internet? No! What you get, is a live performance!" One of the stage bodyguards stepped up with his own dueldisk. "Ah, here is one who would challenge my power!" The bodyguard initiated a duel and took the first turn. He summoned some nondescript monster and placed one trap card face-down. This duel was all scripted out, but the duelists did not care. They were about to see glory. "He wants Power? Here. It. IS!" Doms own hand was also helped by the script, he had drawn exactly what his act needed. "These are the Pendulum Monsters! Like any other, you can summon them. Or...as you ay have noticed by their color." Dom tapped the left and right side of his field; the pendulum zones. "They can also be set as spells! Once you install the latest update, you will find your field suddenly has two new zones in it. What are they for? Look closely.. I set Dragonpulse and Dragonpit Magician!"

"Magician!?" Uno's heart skipped a beat.

"SCALE 1!" One was a female swordsman in a white coat, with braided red hair. "SCALE 8!" Her counterpart was a crowned blonde mage with a staff. They made a sharp contrast with Uno's magician pair, the two did not even have monster effects. Yet the resemblance was there. "When two Pendulum monsters are placed on either side of the field, a pendulum summon can be performed! The monsters you summon can be any monster from your hand, as long as their levels lie between the number of the scales!" Dom continued his demonstration. He pendulum summoned two monsters from his hand. This was all familiar to the gang, but not to the duelists around them. "You can summon your old favorites for free, like the Dark Magician!" The blue-skinned spellcaster(7/2500/2100) of ancient egypt was a welcome sight for most. "Or you can summon monsters tailored to the art of pendulum summon; like Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior!" At the same time as the Dark Magician, the great magical black knight(6/1600/1000) was pendulum summoned.

"You remember the old Breaker; he gained 1 spellcounter and 300 attackpoints if you normal summoned him. Now you could normal summon this magical warrior too, you would just gain 2 spellcounters and 400 attackpoints for each! But if you pendulum summon him instead." Dark Breaker raised his shield, drawing in three magical spells. "He gains three spellcounters! That is a a 33 % increase in power!" The spellcounters wrapped the spell knight(2800/1000) in magical power. "Of course the second power is still the same, the power the spell and trap breaker!" Breaker(2400/2100) gave up one of its spellcounters, placing the magic in his sword instead. He swung it around to shatter the bodyguards face-down trap card. "And that's not all! Pendulum monsters have their own effects!" Dom discarded a card from his hand, another random Pendulum monster. "As a spell-card, Dragonpulse Magician can destroy face-up monsters at the cost of just one Pendulum monster in your hand! Quite the bargain!" The redhaired mage started spinning her double-sided sword to start up a whirlwind of cutting winds. The guards monster was torn to shreds. "Now taste this! BATTLE!" Both Breaker and the Dark Magician charged their attack spells and fired it upon the poor opponent.

Bodyguard's LP: 3100

"All of these can be yours too, my duelists.. my comrades! The first boosters will hit the stores in the next hour. But you will find it difficult to unlock their true potential, unless you enter my tournament!" Dom dismissed the holograms of his monsters. The duel had served its purpose since the crowd was hanging on his every word now. "The overall winner of this years contest; the champions guild, will get priority commissions. AKA; their archetypes will be the first to be pendulum-ized!" Dom raised two fingers. "But you will have to make it passed my two disciples; Iria Silver and Zach Creffield. And you will have to do it in a whole new environment. Will you use the new archetypes or boost your old? You better pick one before the week is over. Because it is gonna be CRAZY next Saturday!"

"What is..what is this?" Uno had seen everything and he still could not comprehend. "He has the same cards as me." A part of him that felt unique, was being used by this guy? "Come on, we make all the cards. Did you think you would be the only one with Performapals for all time? Those cards were designed by Dom himself. True, we do not know how you acquired them or where they could have come from, but neither do you. I take it you still have not gotten cured your amnesia." Zach assumed Uno would not be here otherwise. "I did learn a little. I learned that UNO.. the other Uno, is here in this building." Uno replied, using what the sisters had told him. "Here? UNO? That is not.." Zach stammered as if he had heard the impossible. "If he is here, could he be the guy outside?" Alice pointed at the man in the mask who was still yelling at the masses. "Well, someone who hides his face probably has a few secrets." Emily reasoned. Zach just shook his head. "That is not the case at all. I can not tell you, Dom ordered me not to. But Dom is not UNO." He pleaded with them to drop the subject. "A friend of Dom then?" No luck. Even James was getting in on the speculatopm.

"If you must continue this, you can take it up with... with.." Zachs's voice trailed off. "What is that man doing on the stage!?" Something came up that required immediate attention.

"Do not talk or gesture. Do not try anything that would give away my presence, it wont do you any good." A man stood on the stage with Dom. Where he came from and when he got there, Dom could not tell. The crowd had not seen him either, they still hadn't. "They cannot sense me, only you can. This is because I have no interest in the others." This stranger struck an intimidating figure. Fiery red hair, thick brows and a huge scar across his eye. He was no ordinary fan of Dom. On the other hand, his status as a duelist was for certain, since he had a dueldisk strapped to his arm; a synchro-guild model. Only he did not appear to be from that guild. He just wore a sleeveless black uniform with a blue belt. "You will come with me. We have questions for you, about the cards you have created and the..."

"Stop!" The standoff was unexpectedly diffused. "I don't know what you want, but you should keep your distance!" Zach stepped in between with his dueldisk at the ready. "One more?" Zachs appearance alone was enough to make the stranger recoil a little. "Not just one!" And then the rest of the gang crawled on stage as well. Uno was the one who joined Zach's side, also with his dueldisk activated. "You look surprised, just like June did. Friend of hers?" He recognized the effect this man was having on those around him. Just like the woman at the castle, he was invisible to the common eye. Yet they were able to detect him. "This should not be happening." The stranger was disturbed by this development He took a step back but did not retreat. "This is your doing, Dom. I should have figured you would find a way to prepare your subordinates." He activated his dueldisk to counter theirs. "Do I know you?" Dom finally asked, clearly confused by the whole encounter.

"You will have heard of us in the past.. if you are the one we are looking for. You met June, so I shall give you my name.. I am August and I will get answers, no matter how many stand in my way!"

(To be Continued in Annex 023: The Withered Mark)

 **New Cards used by Master Dom  
** Dragonpulse Magician  
Dragonpit Magician  
Breaker the Dark Magical Warrior  
Dark Magician


	23. The Withered Mark

**Annex 023:** **The Withered Mark**

Doms big show took an unusual turn, even for those used to his dramatic flair. "Where did he come from?" From the point of view of the audience, a tall redheaded man had appeared on stage in a fraction of a second. The arrival of the gang had dispelled the veil that August had cast over their senses. The guilds were close to panicking yet could not look away. "...I can use this." And Dom decided that, instead of retreating now that he had the chance, he was gonna salvage his act. "ALRIGHT! You have witnessed it with our own eyes, a sneak preview of our upcoming holographic stealth technology! With just a little twisting of the light, you can hide whatever you want. This will guarantee you a duel free from outsiders who complain about the visual disturbances!" He shouted as he raised his arms to the sky. "Sir? We do not have that kind of technology." Zach reminded him quietly. "Not yet at least!" Dom turned his spherical head to the side to talk to one of his guards. "You, tell the guys at the lab to start working on it. Pronto! It's too good an idea to let it go to waste!" The guard complied and rushed back into the building.

August observed everything with growing anger. "Are you mocking me by decreasing your defenses?" This 'master' was not taking anything seriously. "Sir, I quite agree with any plan that involves you falling back into the tower and letting us handle this.. ruffian." Zach did not lower his arms. He was determined to protect Dom. Though really he was only talking so he could distract August. "Hyah!" One member from the security staff tried to tackle August to pin him down. "Don't even try it!" August countered with a simple dodge and a chop to the back of the guards neck. The man was out cold with one tap. "!" Enraged, more bodyguards rushed August. But he used a combination of lightning-fast kicks and thrusts to knock them down one by one. "I will fight any who obstruct me, in any way!" August had not even been touched. "Oooo-kay. Would that include a duel as well? Fighting is not my division." Dom began to reconsider his options. "If that is how you want to fight, so be it. I do not run from any challenge."

"If that's the case, just let everyone duel him at once!" Emily suggested quickly. There were a hundred duelists here. Nobody could face that many. "It wont be that easy. The more enemies one faces, the more benefits he gets. And the opposing team will share just one set of lifepoints." Cassius had more experience in the field of tagteams, which why he did not step in yet. "I can do it, sir." Zach took out a deck of cards. "You do not have to risk a confrontation with him." He was the disciple, he was supposed to protect his master. "Right, right. My star pupil against this interloper. That is good!" Dom was enjoying this a bit too much. But then, he was not the only one. "Two can join this act." Uno had not simply activated his dueldisk for show. This guy was not going to get away. "You too? Marvelous! My promoter on the run will join to show off my new Performapals! I can't even be mad anymore that I am no longer the star!" The master rubbed his hands together. "Enjoy my courageous duelists! This is all for you!" He bowed and finally left the stage. The guards took him far away.

Team Dreamworld's LP: 8000 Augusts LP: 8000

"Don't think you can help your master by delaying me, servant. Now that I have found him, I will never lose track of him." August drew five cards from his deck. As he was the only player on his side, he was given the first turn. "Though now you will be the first to fall and to tell me all you know." August placed two trap cards and one monster card face-down on the stage. "Now hurry up with your turns, so that I can crush you both!"

Uno was given the next turn. But before he drew his card, he had something to say. "Guys. You should probably go to a safe place too." He spoke as he kept his eyes on his opponent. "But we can't leave you!" Alice protested. "You don't have to go that far. Just keep a decent distance between you and the crazy kung-fu man." There was no telling what else this guy could do, August was clearly unhinged. "He has a point. Let's get back inside at least." Brandt took the girls away. Cassius though chose to stick around. "How did you get a dueldisk like that?" He would have heard about it, if someone in his guild had gotten their hands on one of his models. "It could be a forgery. That would make our man here a member of the underground circuit. Tell me, why did you attack Master Dom now?"

"Yeah good luck getting answers." Uno could not see August as the kind of person to spill his entire plan to his opponents. "Ha! At least this one knows you will get nothing out of me." August sneered. "This one?" Of course, like Zach and Cassius, Uno had many questions. Even if August was not going to say anything, he had revealed one fact. "The name is Uno!" August did _not_ know him. "That means?" Nor did August seem familiar with the 'Uno' name. "You tell me, August. Anyway; this will do to start us offl!" Uno summoned Performapal Skeeter Skimmer(4/500/1600). Next he activated a pendulum dragon as a spell card. ""I set the scale: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Now, watch as I and my turn. By tributing Odd-Eyes in the pendulum zone, a pendulum monster with 1500 attackpoints can be added to my hand!" Uno took Stargazer Magician from the deck. "Odd-Eyes is a pendulum monster. So he he is sent face-up to my extra deck whenever something sends him to the graveyard!" His big breakthrough would have to come next turn.

"More Pendulums.." August muttered under his breath. "Exquisite! The promoter is even filling in the gaps that I had not gotten to yet!" Dom cheered from inside the building, swarmed by his security detail. He had convinced them to only move a few floors up so he could still observe the duel. Emily and the others were there too. "He has a name you know." She pointed out something Dom had to be aware of. "..." Though Uno meant something different to him. Not that Dom payed her any attention. "How can you even see in there?" Alice asked a question he found far more sensible. "One-way mirror glass." Dom chuckled as he tapped the mask. "I have my own drinks in here too!" She could not tell if he was kidding or not.

"I will take it from here!" The duel continued, Zach activated a spell card. "Behold my spell, the 1st Movement Solo. While I control no monsters, a Melodious angel will be special summoned from my deck! I choose the lovely Aria!" The spell summoned the purple-haired Aria the Melodious Diva(4/1600/1200) to the field. "Then I place the Shining Angel with my normal summon of the turn. Him I will sacrifice!" The glowing angel(4/1400/800) appeared briefly, and was immediately targeted by another spell card that Zach activated. "Transmodify! The spell sends one monster to the grave, while summoning another from the deck. But that second monster must be of the same element and type and have one more level star!" Transmodify could summon a light-elemental fairy-type monster of the 5th level. All the Melodious were light-fairies. "Here she is, the majestic Elegy the Melodious Diva!" The greenhaired angel(5/2000/1200) made her appearance. "Because she was special summoned, all Melodious shall gain in strength!" Her song added power to herself(2300/1200) and Aria(1900/1200).

That was not all. "He set the lock up again." It was the combo that Emily faced a week ago. The special summoned Aria protected the Melodious from targeting effects and attacks. Elegy defended all special summoned Melodious angels against destruction. "Well, what do you think?" It was the disciple's number one strategy, and what made him a formidable foe in the tournament. The crowd was going wild, they loved it that he could set it up in one turn.

August.. not so much. "Pathetic. You duel like a coward. I will break every wall you try to put up!" Everything they did seemed to just piss him off more. "Draw!" He summoned a monster, an averagely-size dragon(4/1400/1100) with burning red skin. "Is that a dragon?" It was a monster that independent duelists around had not seen much in duels in the past. "No.. it's a wyrm." Guild duelists had to explain that the monster was from the newest type of monsters; the wyrms. They looked like dragons, but they were definitely not the same. "Unmasked Dragon, attack!" This dragon, the unmasked version of an actual dragon card, charged towards Aria. "Excuse you?" While August activated a continuous trap card during the attack, that card did not affect Unmasked Dragon in any way. Aria remained the stronger monster. She countered the attack easily and destroyed the wyrm with her song. "I think you got this attacking thing the wrong way around, August." Uno laughed.

August's LP: 7500

"No. He wanted to do this." On the other side, Zach knew every card that existed. "A destroyed Unmasked Dragon can summon a new wyrm with less than 1500 attackpoints from the deck." It was basically the wyrm-version of Shining Angel. "Looks like I don't need to tell you the outcome. Come, Chiwen - Light of the Yang Zing!" Unmasked Dragons effect special summoned a pure-white chinese dragon wyrm(1/0/0) of the light element. Cassius immediately knew what kind of monster this was. "A tuner." Despite not being in the guild, this man appeared to be using synchro monsters. The Yang Zing were not cheap either. "Yang Zing Creation!." But August had plenty. Now was when his continuous trap came into play. Yang Zing Creation special summoned a new Yang Zing wyrm from the deck, when one of Augusts monsters was destroyed. "Come out, Taotie - Shadow of the Yang Zing!" This time a wyrm of the dark element was summoned, the black dragon centaur Taotie(5/2200/0). "Attack!" August knew not to waste his breath on the Melodious, so he made Taotie smash Uno's monster instead. "I do not think so! August!" But Uno had Skeeter Skimmer negate the attack by switching the water insect to defense mode.

"Enough of your stalling." August was not through with his turn yet. In his second mainphase he flipped his set monster. "Bixi - Water of the Yang Zing!" A turtle-like blue wyrm(2/0/2000) came out of its shell. "You are going to have to fight eventually! Turn end!" August had left it open for an attack, only it was not as defenseless as it looked. "Uno. The Yang Zings talent is quick synchro summoning. Bixi and Taotie can use themselves and other Yang Zings as synchro materials. during our turns. We do share the same set of lifepoints, so please be careful." Zach warned his partner. "I saw that, Zach. The problem is not when but _what_." Uno could figure out how to deal with the Wyrm-type. Yet with the current monster lineup, August could summon whatever level 3, 7 or 8 synchro monster he needed. "Just gotta do what I am good at!" Uno drew his card. He knew his deck would not let him down. "I set the scales!" Timegazer Magician was in his hands. He placed both him and Stargazer Magician in the pendulum zones. "Scale 1 and scale 8! Now.."

"The power of Pendulum, you are like a newborn trying to play with fire. Do not think I will let you use it!" August activated Bixi's effect seconds after Uno displayed his Pendulums. "Bixi, Taotie, Chiwen!" He tuned his water and shadow wyrm with the tuner of light. He was going for a level 8 synchro monster. "Drown all enemies with the light from beyond their reach; Baxia, Brightness of the Zang Zing!" The three elements converged to form a long golden wyrm(8/2300/2600) with flowing brown hair. It was synchro summoned in attack position. "Ugh. Of course it was Baxia. When that card is synchro Summoned he gets to shuffle cards into a players deck; one for each different attribute among the materials." Water, light and dark had been combined into this Baxia, that was why Baxia could target three cards. "Baxia! Remove his Pendulums!" The dragon targeted and dismissed Uno's pendulums and Performapal Skeeter Skimmer as well. Zach's Melodious were fine because Aria made them untargetable.

"You knew about pendulum summons?" Uno was more surprised about that than anything else. "Well...I can still normal summon!" He placed a tophat wearing circus mule(3/1600/600) on his empty field. "Performapal Friendonkey! He can special summon one Performapal from my hand or graveyard!" The donkey special summoned Performapal Fire Mufflerlion(3/800/800) in defense mode. "It looks like this is your show now, Zach."

"Apparently. Not to worry, I will make up for your losses, Uno." Zach had been waiting for his turn. He had his next move already planned out. "Sing, my sweet Sonata!" He special summoned a new Melodious Diva, an golden-skinned angel(3/1500/1000) in a blue dress with long halfblue/halfgreen hair. "Sonata can be special summoned, as I already control Melodious angels! Her song increases the attack and defense of my Divas by 500 points now that she has been special summoned!" The Diva(2000/1500) joined in with Aria(2400/1700) and Elegy(2800/1700), to create one harmonious melody. "Elegy! Slay the Brightness of Yang Zing!" Elegy clasped her hands together and unleashed her most powerful soundburst yet. Baxia's entire body convulsed and broke down into a sea of dazzling explosions.

August's LP: 6400

"You are not getting any more hits, servant! Come, Bi'an - Earth of the Yang Zing!" Augusts continuous trap followed up on the death of Baxia. Yang Zing Creation 'created' a serpentine wyrm(3/1600/0) with the colors and face of a tiger. "And Chiwen of the Light!" Chiwen the light-elemental wyrm had its own special summoning effect. It could, and did, revive itself when a Yang Zing monster was destroyed. Still, Zach attempted a second attack with the Diva Aria. "Plunge into the pain of eternity!" Alas, Bi'an had the same effect as Bixi and Taotie; allowing August to use it and Chiwen as synchro materials even during Zach's battle phase. "Underworld Fighter Balmung!" Unexpectedly, the duelist went with a warrior-type synchro monster this time. Balmung the dark armored swordsman(4/2100/800) was synchro summoned in defense position. "Oh. That is quite the spot he put us in." Balmung used his sword to deflect Aria's sonic attack. "A monster that used Bi'an as a synchro material cannot be destroyed as a result of battle." The Divas could put a dent in the Underworld Fighter's armor as long as he stood before them.

"He fights just like the other one." Cassius noted more similarities between him and June. "You mean that woman who attacked us?" The discussion moved down into the crowds, starting with Cassius' fellow guildmen. "I thought the fusion guild did that?" Mysteries turned to accusations. Accusations leds to jeering. "Are you sure it was not your guild? He _is_ using synchro monsters!" The members of the fusion guild did not enjoy being defamed. "I don't get this at all!" And so it all came down to one large and noisy clash. "You know too little." August did not react well to the noise. "All of you, disappear!" He clenched his fist together. A great explosion followed. "Whaaa! What was that!" Part of the stage had been blasted to pieces. "A bomb? Run!" The duelists all freaked out and scattered in different directions. Even the XYZ-guild decided to withdraw. "Hmph. One strike and they run. The duelists here are all cowards." August spat.

"Why did you do that? Did you place explosives here? Are you trying to blow us all up?" Cassius did not flee. He could not believe what he was seeing. He would not believe what Uno had seen either. "That was not a bomb." Uno was sure of it. That explosion came from his duel monster. Balmung had hit the stage with his sword to destroy it. But it all happened so fast that you'd miss seeing it if you did not stand very close to him. "They had to be dealt with before they saw something they shouldn't. I did not come here for them, so they should fly." August balled his other hand into a fist as well. "I see no reason to go easy on the likes of you. You know who you work for. If you do not know, you will soon.. when I get my hands on 'Dom'."

"What is he doing?" From inside it looked like August was doing tensing his muscles. James could not make anything else of it. "Maybe he is charging his energy?" Alice guessed at random. "That's not it. That would." 'That would be crazy', Emily was about to claim. "Graaaahhhh!" Before August erupted like an inferno. His entire body was bathed in red flames of energy. "What is even going on anymore?" Emily cried out.

"Kgeh.." August was not the only one covered in intense light. "Now?" Uno felt the pendant burn against his chest. It had never glowed like this before, it hurt. "Are you quite alright? Can't say I have ever seen a man do what you have done." And Zach had seen a lot. "Never been better." August spread his arms. They now bore the marking of a great red dragon, drawn like a Nazca geoglyph. The tail was on his left arm and the head on the right. "The game ends here, the real battle begins!"

He flipped a continuous trap card. "Oasis of Dragonsouls! I resurrect Baxia!" The Oasis could special summon wyrms from the graveyard in defense position, including synchro monsters like The Brightness(7/2300/2600). "My turn!" Baxia had another effect that August could activate at any time. By destroying one of his cards, Baxia could re-summon a dead level 4 or lower monster. "Destroy Balmung!" The Underworld Fighter gave his own life. This was bad by itself, because Balmung also revived dead level 4 or lower monsters if he himself was destroyed. "Come back, Unmasked Dragon and Bian - Earth of the Yang Zing!" The two level 3 wyrms regained their flesh and body. Of course, with the destruction of another monster, Yang Zing Creation would special summon another Yang Zing from the deck. "Jiaotu - Darkness of the Yang Zing!" The dark counterpart tuner to Chiwen, Jiaotu(2/0/2000) of the dark scales, was this turns target of the continuous trap. "Another tuner?" Uno, everyone, could tell what was going to happen next.. Though not exactly.

"Witness the power of the rumbling heavens! Synchro Summon! My soul, Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend!"

(To be Continued in Annex 024: Red where Red is Due)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Friendonkey

 **New Cards used by Zach Creffield  
** Sonata the Melodious Diva

-  
1st Movement Solo  
Transmodify

 **Cards used by August  
** Bixi, Water of the Yang Zing  
Unmasked Dragon  
Chiwen, Light of the Yang Zing  
Taotie, Shadow of the Yang Zing  
Bi'an, Earth of the Yang Zing  
Jiaotu - Darkness of the Yang Zing

-  
Baxia, Brightness of the Yang Zing  
Underworld Fighter Balmung

-  
Yang Zing Creation  
Oasis of Dragon Souls


	24. Red where Red is Due

**Annex 024: Red where Red is Due**

August's LP: 7000 Team Dreamworld's LP: 8000

Red Dragon Archfiend was a card that every synchro duelist knew. "Scarlight?" But the demonic horned dragon(8/3000/2000) that flew in the air now was not that card. The dragons body and wings carried more scar-like red marks and its right claw was wrapped up in bandages. It was if this Red Dragon had been wounded in a great battle. "Is this one of your new creations?" Not even the synchro guild runner had seen this variant before. "Not to my knowledge." Zach shook his head. "The dueldisk is not rejecting it. How.." This was a card that could not exist. Then there was the tattoo of a dragon burning brightly on Augusts body. This duel seemed like a dream. _"That card is new?"_ Only Uno, for reasons he could not remember, did not feel that weirded out by this. "Where did you get that card, and what is up with your tattoo?"

"You couldn't possibly understand my power, and I have no interest in telling you. Debris Dragon!" August summoned a dragon monster for once; a wind-type(4/1000/2000). "Come back, Bixi!" A normal summoned Debris Dragon could special summon a monster with less than 500 attackpoints, like the water wyrm Bixi(2/0/2000), from the graveyard. "Synchro summon!" Debris Dragon was a tuner too, but it could only be used as a material for dragon synchro monsters. "Arise and Reshape the essence of life and death, Final Material Dragon!" A third synchro monster(6/2400/1500) now showed up on the stage. This was another card that Zach did not recognize, though it resembled a normal dragon card in name and shape; Prime Material Dragon. "Their effects." Zach did not want to be in the dark anymore, so he had his disk analyze these new cards. "Oh dear."

 _Final Material Dragon, 6/2400/1500 Light/Dragon/Synchro  
_ _1 Dragon-type Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters.  
_ _Monster cards you control cannot be destroyed by card effects_ _.  
_ _When a player takes damage from a card effect: This card gains ATK equal to the damage taken._

The discipe first looked at the level 6 synchro and then at the level 8 dragon. "Scar-Light Red Dragon. All special summoned monsters besides the Red Dragon will be destroyed. And we will lose 500 lifepoints for each destroyed monster." With the protection effect of Final Material Dragons, August would not lose any monsters. However Zach had protection too. "You cannot destroy my Divas." Elegy(5/2800/1700) and Aria(4/2400/1700) saw to that. "I can do worse!" August fired back with a spell card. "Dragoroar! I banish four elements from the graveyard, to send one card you control back to your deck!" The spell card banished Bi'an of the Earth, Bixi of the Water, Debris Dragon from the wind and Unmasked Dragon from the fire. The spirits of the wyrms and dragon combined their roars and chased Elegy away. "Gah. Dragoroar does not target." It was one of the few cards that could break Zach's lock. Aria(2100/1700) and Sonata(1700/1500) were weaker now as well. "They are ready for you, Scar-Light Red Dragon! !" The archfiend wrapped his right claw in hellish flames. It punched the air to release three fireblasts. Performapal Fire Mufflerlion(3/800/800) and Zach's Divas were hit and reduced to a pile of ashes. "Argh!" The heat was on.

Team Dreamworld's LP: 6500

"What was that?" Both Uno and Zach could feel the flames as if they were real. "That was just the dawn..." 1500 lifepoints had been taken away, so Final Material Dragon(3900/1500) gained 1500 attackpoints. August also switched Baxia(7/2300/2600) of the Brightness Yang Zing to attack mode. ".. the last dawn!" The material dragon attacked first and killed Performapal Friendonkey(4/1600/600) with its slithering wings of moving matter. Next, Baxia overwhelmed Zach with a flash of pure light. "Ngggh!" Zach's skin felt as if it was soaked in burning oil.

Team Dreamworld's LP: 1900

"Scarlight, their life is yours!" The archdemon of dragons drew its head back to prepare its direct attack. It howled and shot out a blast that barreled towards the duelists like a meteor. "Performapal Call!" Foregoing his usual lines, Uno activated his trap card as quickly as possible. "I negate your direct attack!" The trap deflected the meteor, making it blow up against the wall of Dreamworlds Tech instead. "Ahhh!" Dom cried out in terror. "My windows! It is gonna take days to repair them!"

"There is your bomb, Cassius. Don't ask me how, but this guy turned his hologram into the real thing." As if there was any doubt about it before. Not with Uno. "Now Performapal Call will also add two Performapals from my deck to my hand, if their combined defense does not go higher than the attackpoints of the Red Dragon" Uno decided to go with Whip Snake and Partnaga, whose defense points equaled 3000. "...End turn." August, who had not been as surprised by Uno's last ditch rescue as Uno expected, quietly passed the turn to his opponents. _"Odd..."_ August was not looking at him. Was he distracted in some way? "I set Partnaga as a spell and summon Whip Snake!" Uno activated the scale-3 Pendulum spell in the blue pendulum zone and normal summoned the whipping snake(4/1700/900). "Two snakes for the price of one, August!" Uno activated the pendulum effect of Partnaga. The yellow/red snake coiled around the purple snake, giving him(2300/900), 300 attackpoints for each Performapal card Uno controlled. "Whip Snake switches a monsters defense and attackpoints once each turn!"

"Then come to me! My dragons can take it!" August raged on. Scarlight and Baxia had too many defense points for the snakes to overcome. "Well, most of them can.." Uno grinned as his Performapal targeted Final Material Dragon(1500/3900) instead. "Get that one, Whip Snake!" The snake rolled into a spring-form and jumped down on top of the material dragon. The synchro monster got pounded into a fine jelly. "That's for slinging your fireballs all over the place! Your duel is with us, August. Do not involve the audience." Naturally his words had helped build August's fury. "Audience? You think the other duelists are just spectators? Just because they do not know, does not mean they are not involved!" Final Material's death still served a purpose. While August ranted, the Yang Zing Creation trap special summoned another Taotie - Shadow of the Yang Zing(5/2200/0) form his deck. "Know _what?_ " Uno placed another trap card down and ended his turn "That nobody is safe. Any damage you see is nothing in the face of the enemy's destruction. Any damage I create is worth everything if it can stop _Tempus."_

August's LP: 6200

"Tempus? I do not know who this person is, but he is not my master! Dom couldn't even hurt a fly. All I see is a madman who likes to spread terror and mayhem!" Zach wanted to hear no more, not until they could ask the questions. "I activate Fusion Gate!" So he played a field spell card. "!?" The same on Meridian had been using in Uno's last duel. "You use Fusion monsters?" That was not something Uno thought he would do as an independent guilds-man. Cassius looked a little stunned as well. "You look surprised. Being part of the company that makes the cards works better than being in a guild who asks for cards." It was no trouble at all for a disciple to enhance his own deck. "My shock has more to do with your choice of extra deck support, Creffield." If Cassius had been asked, he would have told him Synchros worked better for a special-summon happy deck like his. "It's in my bones, I joined Dreamworld before the coming of Synchros and XYZs. Anywho, that's enough chitchat."

Zach activated Fusion Gate; banishing two fusion materials in his hand.. "By fusing any Melodious angel with a Melodious Maestra!" Canon the Melodious Diva and Mozarta the Melodious Maestra were thrown into the Gate. "I can create Bloom Diva the Melodious Songstress." A pink flower sprouted at the center of the fusion field. "I also activate the Trap card: Fused Hurricanes!" While his monsters came out of the vortex of fusion, the gate itself kept the storm going. "Fused Hurricanes destroys a spell or trap card, for each monster I fused this turn!" The fused energy from Mozarta and Canon broke free from the hurricane and slammed into Augusts traps. Oasis of Dragonsouls and Yang Zing Creation were destroyed. Destroying the Oasis also killed the wyrm that it had revived, Baxia the Brightness. Ultimately, Dloomdiva(6/1000/2000) blossomed and revealed herself as a clear-eyed fairy in a blue dress.

 _Fused Hurricanes, Normal Trap  
_ _Activate only when a Fusion monster is Fusion summoned.  
Destroy as many Spell/Trap Cards as possible, up to the number of monster cards that were used as a material for that Fusion Summon._

"Oh. She's so pretty and scary-looking." Alice marveled at the sight of this new Diva. "I guess. But only 1000 attackpoints?" Emily scratched her head. She could not see how this thing was going to help.

"And now for you, August!" Zach started the battle phase. "Bloom Diva attacks Red Dragon Archfiend." The songstress took a deep breath and fired away with her song. "What are you doing, Zach?" Cassius did not know his new fusion card, so to him this looked like suicide. "Haha. I understand your concern. Not to worry, Bloomdiva cannot take damage. As for her opponent." The Dragon archfiend naturally tried to fight back, swinging a claw at his attacker. "Bloom Diva destroys any special summoned monster it battles!" The Songstress merely increased the power of her attack, creating a whirlwind that swept pink petals around Scarlight. "The damage will equal the difference between our monsters attackpoints!" Augusts mighty dragon was torn to pieces by the storm, and the remaining petals struck August. "Raaaaghh!" It seemed his body agonized after effect damage just like Zach's. "Just stop this insanity. You can not fight against us both!" Zach ended his turn.

August's LP: 4200

"Can't I?" August did not even wait for the pain subside. "This will not end until I say so!" He activated his own field spell, a cosmic gathering of galaxies was displayed on the floor and in the sky. "Celestia!" The field spell had a destruction effect that required only three wyrms in the graveyard. "Nice try, but Bloomdiva cannot be destroyed by card effects." Zach said, all sure of himself. "Her turn will come. The first to die is that Snake!" Baxia, Jiaotu and the first Taotie were all banished from Augusts graveyard, and their spirits pulled Performapal Whip Snake down into its grave. Uno winced. "... and what do you have in store for Zach?" August would not have such a disturbing smile on his face if he was cornered. "Something he will never see coming!" August normal summoned another Jiaotu of the Darkness(2/0/2000) tuner. It synchronized itself with the wyrm Taotie; seven stars were put together. ""Rose that grows in the garden of eternity! Bloom here, watered by pale moonlight! Black Rose Moonlight Dragon!"

"Black Rose Moonlight?" Yet another new version of an older synchro dragon had been synchro summoned. This time it was Black Rose Dragon, the rose-winged and thorn-tailed dragon(7/2400/1800). Where was he getting these cards from? "Your flower is less than nothing, before my Rose!" Black Rose Moonlight activated its ability straight out of the gate. It could return one level 5 or higher monster to a players hand. "Return your Melodious Songstress!" The Black dragon shrieked at the blue fairy and made her flee back into Zach's extra deck. "Aye! Her one weakness!" Zach had nothing that could stop bouncing effects. "Now. Fall!" Black Rose Dragon raised its thorny vines into the air and sent them towards Zach. "Nobody is falling on my watch! I activate the continuous trap card; Performapal Pinch Helper! It negates a direct attack and summons a Performapal from the deck to the field, with his powers sealed!" Uno special summoned Performapal Sword Fish(3/600/600) in defense position, while at the same time forcing the vines to back off. "You are wasting everyone's time, servants." Seething, August ended his turn.

"Thanks, Uno. You saved us both again." Zach thought that _would_ have been the end. "I suppose I did. I.." Uno froze as he placed his hand on the top card of his deck. "Hey, wait a second. Why is your field spell active?" It took him until his turn to realize that Fusion Gate was still on the field. "Because two field spells can exist at the same time? Didn't you know about that rule?" Zach answered. "Could've sworn it was different." Uno did not know if he had to blame his amnesia or not for this subconscious impression he had. "Then I can.." With Fusion Gate, he could create another fusion monster. "I can.." Uno could still feel it burning against his chest, the jewel had not calmed down after August revealed his mark. "Not Rune-Eyes. Something even stronger." Uno was just one movement away from drawing his next card. With it would come a way to fusion summon, he was certain of that. _"I..need."_

 _"No.."_ He let the card go and let his eyes gaze through the hole in the side of the building. His friends were there, Alice was there. _"No, you will not. Uno. You do not need it! We are our own guild!"_ He smiled, at her perhaps. She wouldn't see it. "I set the scale!" He drew his card and activated it. "Stargazer Magician!" The white mage returned to the red pendulum zone. Without another Magician or Odd-Eyes card on the field, Stargazers scale was raised from 1 to 4. "Uno? Can you even pendulum summon like this?" The partnering Partnaga's scale was 3. No levels existed between 3 and 4. And Stargazer was usually placed in the blue zone, not the red zone. "I can, Cassius. It is a pity I have to show off this trick to such a small audience, but.." Uno activated a quickplay spell card. "Pendulum Shift! My Pendulum monsters scale will be raised to any number between 1 and 8!" Uno's spell charged up Stargazers scale to the max. "Get it? Like this I can pendulum summon exactly what the final act desires! I summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Performapal Fire Mufflerlion!"Odd-Eyes(7/2500/2000) made his grand entrance at last, along with the Fire lion in his extra deck.

"Ha! It doesn't matter what you do, Uno!" August's synchro monster activated its effect again. "Black Rose can also return special summoned monsters, if a level 5 or higher monster is special summoned." The dragon of roses pushed Odd-Eyed Pendulum Dragon back into Uno's hand with a beat of its wings. "Dangit." Zach got nervous. All Uno had left were weak Performers. "Oh.. hold on." He had _two_ weak performers. "Bingo." Uno sacrificed both Swordfish and Fire Mufflerlion. "I tribute two monsters to summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Your dragon cannot do anything against normal summons!" Two Performapals vacated the stage. Their roles were over, and Odd-Eyes got his second chance. "This is your solo act, Odd-Eyes!" Uno had Performapal Partnaga add 300 attackpoints to Odd-Eyes, twice. There were two Performapal cards, Pinch Helper was still on the field. "And there is your counterpart! Make this attack count!" The two dragons charged each other, but it was clear who would come out triumphant. The boosted powers of the Pendulum dragon(3100/2000) laid waste to the Moonlight Rose dragon. "Grehhhgh.. Damn you!" Thanks to Odd-Eyes' effect, the battle damage had been doubled.

August's LP: 2800

Now it was Zach's turn. Is his deck was nice to him, he could end the duel with a free direct attack. "!?" Sadly it was not, he drew Celestial Transformation, which could not help him. "Oh, not now."

That was a cue for someone else to interfere. "Sad, Creffield." The voice or Iria Silver was transmitted through his dueldisk. "Silver?" A cage of energy followed her words, both Uno's and Zach's dueldisks cast a wide barrier around August. "What is this?" August tried to touch the walls. He only received shocks as a reward. "This is a trap for you." Iria explained coldly. "What? Hey, we were still in the middle of a duel!" Uno protested. Things were finally going their way. "I will not let the fate of this terrorist depend on a game. The outcome is unclear, I see no need to let it go on." She did have a point. Neither Uno nor Zach could predict what August would do once he got his next turn. That he had one at all was the only undeniable fact. This did not temper the mans fury. "You cowards! Too affraid to finish the fight? You..." Yet then August got very quiet. "...? What is he doing now?" Uno's opponent had that distant gaze again. The same one June often had.

"Who cares? He's not going anywhere." Emily and the others thought it was safe again to come out, and walked through the hole August had made. Only Dom was held back by his guards. "I know you like a good duel, but this is more then a game to this guy." She preferred this solution. "But they would have won!" Alice insisted anyway. "We will have to see about that later." Zach sighed. As usual Iria had gotten her way over his. "Uno.." Unlike him though, Uno did not lower his dueldisk. "Uno?" Uno appeared to be just as detached as August. It was not that he could not hear Zach. It was who else he could hear now. "You said too much already... We know where he is now, that is enough.. Let January get you.." There were new voices in his head, garbled distorted voices that did not sound like they came from people's mouths. Was this some kind of back-and-forth between August and an unseen accomplice? His pendant still gave off light. Was that picking up on their conversations? "Guys, he.." It was too late to use this information. "Hmph." August just turned his blank expression into a bare-teeth scowl... and he left. "...is going." August was gone before anyone could blink.

"Whoa! He turned invisible again!" Alice gasped. "He did? Then he should still be in the barrier! Do you still have him?" Cassius asked the disciples. "This is.. this is not possible." Iria's response was clear. August had escaped. "Wow.. Do you think he got beamed up? Like on those spaceship shows?" Alice's mind went to the only piece of information that could explain what happened here. "Let's not go crazy." Her sister was less willing to accept a world in which that was possible. "I am sure there is a logical explanation for it." Zach used the standpoint his associate always cited. Iria herself was unusually silent. There was nothing that could tell her how this happened, not man nor machine.

"Is this the kind of dueling you have been seeing since you left?" James was the most disturbed of them all. This seemed less like a game and more like a war. "No. It is not, sir Brandt. That man was not a normal fan of the master'." Zach said, assessing the damage done to the wall. "But surely you are not going to keep the tournament going after all of this?" James asked, exasperated. "I am afraid that is not up to me. And I know my master. He will just strengthen security measures, because he wouldn't let something like this ruin his fun. If any of you want to drop out of the tournament because of this, now is your chance.."

"Stop now? When things got even more interesting?" Uno chuckled. "No. I think I'll keep going, Zach."

(To be Continued in Annex 025: Objects in Motion)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Pendulum Shift  
Performapal Pinch Helper

 **New Cards used by Zach Creffield  
** Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir

-  
Fusion Gate

 _-  
Fused Hurricanes_

 **New Cards used by August  
** Debris Dragon

-  
ScarLight Red-Dragon Archfiend  
 _Final Material Dragon  
_ Black Rose Moonlight Dragon

-  
Dragoroar  
Celestia


	25. Objects in Motion

**Annex 025: Objects in Motion**

In the wake of the attack, Dreamworld left no stone unturned. They investigated every possible lead and that included possible card providers; sources for Augusts deck. The disciples started with the guildrunner who was already in the vicinity. "Nobody requested anything related to Red Dragon archfiend or any other card we saw in Augusts deck, not of us. I assume your checks will tell you the same." Cassius wanted to help, despite his partners objections. "Why are you asking him? Can't you see that these people are trying to frame Cassius? That guy's gotta be from that illegal circuit you keep talking about." Emily had come along because she wanted to be know what they knew and then pass it along to Alice and Uno. "It isn't that simple, Mrs Brandt." Zach answered her hastily. He saw the deathglare Iria was giving the girl. He figured he would be better at doing the talking. "We investigated Vice and his shop completely. Though we found a few ties to known dealers, he and his associates had no knowledge of anyone that fit the description of the one you called June. Whoever they are, they are not from that circle."

"Yet the first point might be valid. First fusion, now Synchro; someone could be trying to put the guilds against each other. But who?" The logical culprit would be the XYZ-guild. They were the most aggressive and disliked both the Fusion and XYZ-guild. "That does not explain why they would attack Dom." Iria spoke up. "Or how they possess cards that we do not." Cassius coughed. "He escaped us.. somehow. I missed something." Iria muttered. She still did not comprehend how he did it. Her barrier showed no signs of disruption, and she had given him no openings. It was unfortunate that August got away with his cards before they could analyze them. "The cards he used; there were no traces of unauthorized updates on either dueldisk. The cards themselves must have had the original code. Except they couldn't have come from us. His cards are the same as.. Uno's."

"The codes?" The conversation had lost Emily with the technicalities. "A digital print needs to be inserted in any card for it to work with our dueldisks. That is why fakes inevitably get found out, you cannot copy the codes without degrading them." Zach explained it to her. Vice's fusion monster did glitch out when a guild dueldisk tried to play it. "Shouldn't we be getting to the more important mystery? Like, a duel monster doing real damage?" Cassius looked out the window. They were inside the very building that had been attacked. Down below men and women were already hard at work at repairing the hole in the wall. "Is that part of the code as well?" He glared at the two disciples. One had heard enough. "That will be all, guild leader Cassius." She nodded at two bodyguards and they forcefully shoved Cassius and Emily out of the interrogation room.

"Hey! Watch it!" Emily freed her shoulder. The guards withdrew in silence. "What did you say that made them get all uppity?" She vented at Cassius instead. "Just a rumor that we picked up on. People were saying that Dreamworld was working on technology for hardlight constructs. Basically they'd be making touchable holograms." Given the kind of destruction he had seen August unleash, that technology seemed to be more than just hearsay. "That's possible? They are just holograms, right?" Emily had a hard time believing the rumor despite the visual evidence. "Light is energy, energy can be molded. If they can make barriers with projections, they can do more. It does not mean Dreamworld itself is doing it. Someone inside Dreamworld may.. Ah never mind. It's just rumors. Let's just go see how the others are doing."

...

A new guild was born. "Here ya go!" Alice and Uno handed their request and their medals to another secretary and she processed their information in a matter of seconds. "That was it? You're telling us it is that simple?" James Brandt only saw the woman press a button. There was none of the strict formality one would expect from such a transaction. "Well there is still a contract they should sign. And a questionnaire to fill in." The woman still had large paper stacks waiting. "I see. And what about Dom? Is he not going to give his stamp of approval?" Uno was hoping to see the man in person. He missed his chance earlier. "I am forwarding the information to him now. After the recent attack on his life, I am sure you can understand him not doing any more meetings for the rest of the day.." The assistant kept typing until her eyes fell on Alice's profile. "It says here your deck of choice is Mermail?" She looked at the girl. "Uh, yeah? Is that bad?" Alice echoed her apparent concern. "You might say that. The tournament has a one-deck per entry rule. The Mermails are already taken by someone from the XYZ-guild." A "So I cant use them? But.. But I wanted to use the cards I have. Mom and dad bought them for me on my 12th birthday!"

"Good grief, Cora. Don't scare them like that with the details." Said the master of dreamworld, as he appeared on her left. "Guh." Uno wanted Dom to show up, but he did not think he could be that stealthy. "Sir? I was only citing your rules..I can handle this." Cora groaned, softly. She could not exactly deny him access. "I dont often get the chance to talk to people, so let me." The hologram waved her off. "Little girl, I had no idea those cards were so precious to you. It warms my heart I tell you. Unfortunately I cant go back on my own rules, I have to promote variety after all!" Nobody wanted to see a tournament of 32 mirror matches. It also did not sell well. "So when is your next birthday ? Maybe I can buy you a new gift." The master offered. "Uhhh.." Alice placed a finger on her temple. "January the 27th." Her father gave the answer before she did. "Oh yeah. I always forget." She grinned. "Waaaait a second. Are you trying to buy me off?"

"You're right, I probably shouldn't be spending company funds on new friends for the tenth time. January is too far off anyway" Dom stroked the underside of his mask. Then he snapped his fingers. "Tell you what! The other guy is from the XYZ-guild. He's in the top 10 of the guild, and I can't see him being kicked off any time soon. But if you could focus your deck on Synchros and add in a few tuners and a few less Mermails. Maybe I can write you down as an Atlantean promoter. How does that sound?" He excitedly rubbed his hands together. "I'm sorry. But I don't like to use Synchro monsters. Can't I just use main deck monsters?" She had gotten this far without them. "You can. Of course, you can! Though I wouldn't recommend it if you want to keep your friend Uno afloat. Your deck will need a lot of luck to survive. If an independent wins, they gain a lot of points because their odds are the worst of any guild. If they lose, they also lose a lot of points. You can drop to the bottom of the chart in one duel. Are you sure.." He tried to make an offer again. Alice shook her head. "That's okay. If I'm getting something new, I want to get it on my own. People can't keep helping me.."

"Very well. If that is all." Dom nodded his featureless head and turned it away from the trio. "Wait!" Uno called after him. "Don't you have anything else to say? To me? What more do I have to do to get you to talk to me? You let me get this far! I would have joined your tournament either way, what does this all prove?" Uno yelled and his hand reached out to where the master stood. "You didn't get anywhere actually." But he was gone. Uno's hand only touched the air where he once had stood, where his voice still echoed. "A hologram?" Dom had never been here in the first place. "Damn it!"

"What? What did we miss?" Emily and Cassius returned just in time to witness Uno's outburst. "Dom refused to help Uno! He said he doesn't trust him!" An admonished Alice said. "What!? He said that after you saved him?" Emily folded her arms and scowled. Zach had jumped in first, but Uno's help had to count for something. Not to mention all the other things Uno had done for him to promote his cards. "You do trust me then?" Uno asked. "Why wouldn't we trust you? You're not a bad guy." Alice made her stance loud and clear. "Well, now.. yes. I am not out to get anyone, as far as I know. Maybe Dom is worried that I could be a sleeper agent. What if my memories were taken so I could befriend Dom." Uno could not speak for his past self, clearly. But if August worked with June, then they could have put that plan up together. "No offense. But that sounds like the most pointlessly complex infiltration plan in the world. Dom must be paranoid as hell to believe something like that." Emily said. "But it could be worse,.. at least he didn't kick you out."

"So it sounds like the tournament is still going to have to happen. We know it starts next Saturday now, but where?" James sighed deeply. It seemed every duelist was willing to go on despite the attack. "I can come up with a few places. But trying to predict Dreamworld never works well." Cassius assumed Dom was waiting until the last moment to fill everyone in. Brandt would not get much more info right now. "Then we're done here? I only have a few hours left before I have to get back home. It's gonna be a longer trip with that truck."

"I think so!" Alice quickly filled in the rest of the forms and handed them to Cora the assistant. "Great." She thanked them dryly and reviewed the papers. Cora found one blank spot. "...You are required to give a name for your guild. Just a simple 'the-blank-guild' will do." She took out her pen. "Oh... Alic?" Uno looked to his partner. "Me?" She was surprised that he was not trying. "It was your idea in the first place. I can't come up with anything right now, and I bet you have a dozen ideas already." Truth be told, Uno was still too upset with Doms actions to get into his creative side. Luckily Alice was there. "Eh..yeah..sorta. I thought we could go with Oddball, Wonderland, Uno and Pals, Showstopper, Uno Dos Tres, ExExtra, OrangeBlue, Axis Symmetry Parabola..." She could have gone on for a while like this, if the assistant had been patient enough. "Oddball it is." Cora simply wrote down the first name immediately and excused herself. "Huh? What? Wait I wasn't sure yet! Oh.. Aww.. it works, I guess.." Alice also sighed deeply. "Dad's right. Let's do something fun somewhere else."

The duelists made the best of their remaining time with their father and friends before the time came to say goodbye. "Are you sure you girls don't want to come back with me? The house feels empty. And it will be lonely on the road." Brandt was about to go home alone, because his daughters had decided to stay with Cassius. "Ah. Maybe we should, Em?" Allthough Alice clearly had second thoughts. "Dad. Stop trying to guilt-trip us. We'll come home as soon as we've dueled enough people to make it into the tournament." Emily was a bit more resolute. "Hey Iknow that it's handier to find duelists here than in the hill area. But I'm not gonna stand in the way of a family reunion." Cassius quickly absolved himself of any responsibility. But James was not sad, he was smiling. "Heh. I can't get you to stop once you want something, Em. I understand, and I am sure the missus will too." He had seen how his girls could take care of themselves, and how Cassius would keep them safe.

"What about you, Uno? You don't have a place to sleep in, do you?" Alice brought up another subject. Uno had never told them what he planned to do now. "I keep getting talked to like I am gonna jump of a bridge. Don't worry, I'm sticking with the group. Just because we are on different guilds, does not mean we should be enemies, right?" He gave Cassius a wink. Uno had no intention of giving up that nice bed in the castle, despite him not being a part of his guild. "Heh. Very true. We don't need to duel each other until the tournament. I will try to keep my guys off your back until then too; Oddball Guild." He snickered. "Hey! You will fear that name before long, Cassius." Uno laughed right back at him _. "But the ones who should really fear it are Dom and his pals."_ Uno glared at the horizon, as the red sun vanished behind Dreamworlds tower. _"Then we will see."_

...

"They seem to be leaving the city, sir." Back in the head office, Master Dom received the final report from Iria. "I see. I'm glad they really want to give it a shot." He placed his hands on his spherical mask and took it off. A long grin crossed his face. "Maintain our current surveillance status. Give them some privacy. That will be all." Iria nodded and walked towards the door. She stopped and hesitated. "Sir? If it is not too impertinent of me, I would like to propose a question." She turned back to Dom. "Okay, shoot." He sat down in his swivel chair and propped his hands against the back of his head. "Do you have any idea what that man, August, could have been talking about? It would help with our investigation." She spoke boldly. Dom could detect that she was already regretting her words. "Not a clue." He answered nonchalantly, though he wasn't facing her. "Alright, sir." Iria believed him regardless. She bowed and left the room. "..." Dom leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "We're still going. So are they. And I think I know what they want." He opened a drawer in his desk and took three blank cards out of it. "We'll need precautions UNO."

...

Elsewhere, in one of the many dueling hubs that the XYZ-guild had claimed for themselves, a few troopers came to the commander on his thrown. Adamant was displeased. "Who gave the retreat order?" His duelists had failed to record the entire event at Dreamworld. "Me, sir. I felt it was wise to fall back considering the damage that man could create." His second in command admitted. "Someone who allows fear to dictate his actions is not fit to be my second. You are demoted." The guild leader growled. The man did not even make a peep of protest. He just shuffled away, ashamed. "Roma. You will be the new second in command." Adamant offhandedly promoted the next duelist standing near him. "Thank you Adamant, sir." The duelist bowed. "Save it. Get me every scrap of data there is on this August person. I want to know how he got his hands on technology like that. He may be working with the Enemy."

...

Down on the island casino, the Fusion Guild formed their own opinion on today's crisis. Several managers and lawyer used the elevators to descend to the lower levels of the building. There they met with their top duelists in the shadows. "Creating real monsters out of projections. I like this idea.. I want this idea." The woman with a deep voice cackled. "It is such a scary thought, that our opponents could get their hands on it before we do. Scarier that Dreamworld might have hidden it from us." The other girl with the softer voice sounded had a more concerned reaction to this news. "What should we do, Dame?" The managers inquired. "Well we know what the the XYZ-guild will want to do. Let them. The one who takes the first step is the first lose. We have our own secret."

...

The days went by pretty fast after that. Emily, Alice and Uno found plenty of opponents to take on. Allthough there had been some tough encounters and setbacks, all three eventually made it to the top 64. It had been close, and they had to stay active to not lose their spot. But the deadline came soon enough. Their positions were secured the second to last day before the tournament, albeit with the lowest seeds in the bracket. That day was also when Dreamworld officially announced the scene of the tournament. Dom invited all 64 duelists with their families and friends, to come to the creatively named 'Dreamworld' amusement park. They would get suites there in hotels, free tickets to all the rides inside the park, and front row seats for every duel that would be held in the tournament. But first, Emily and Alice would use their remaining days to spend time with their father, in their own home. Uno was welcomed there as well. He was happy to spend his time there in peace, watching TV, using the net. But all this time his mind wandered to what lied ahead. Thankfully Saturday was there before he knew it.

"Come on kids!" Dreamworld park was not exactly around the corner. Worse yet, James had failed to get the week off. He was only given the time he needed to drive his two daughters to the trainstation... if they hurried up. "Still packing I guess." Uno was already done, but he did not have much clothes anyway. He had only bought a handful of sets this last week. It would be enough to make him stand out. The shades though, he kept those, no matter how tacky they looked.

"Hey Em! Can I borrow some of your old clothes?" Alice asked her sister. "What? Why?" Emily asked her back. "I thought I should wear something cool, you know? A lot of people are gonna watch the duels on TV. You already have Aarons jacket to look cool in." Alice did not want to make a weak impression.. "Just take whatever. We're gonna be late!"With her lighter case Emily rushed downstairs. Alice eventually followed with a dozen sweaters, vests and what not stuffed in her case. "You think we should say something to Eric?" She asked right as everyone reached the pickup. "He hasn't talked to us all weekend. If he wants to mope, let him." Emily grumbled. Yes it sucked that Eric could not make it. But him telling them to get out whenever they tried to knock on the door did not make him more sympathetic. "Come on." The family would have to leave without saying goodbye, they did not have the time. "You know. I am gonna miss this place." Uno looked one last time at the town as they began to leave it behind. "But I am ready to go, more than ever."

(To be Continued in Annex 026: A Heavy Metal Overture)


	26. A Heavy Metal Overture

**Annex 026: A Heavy Metal Overture**

Hundreds of duelists drove, flew or rode towards Dreamworlds entertainment center. They came from the four corners of the land and beyond to be a part of this years tournament. Some were early, others took all day just to get there. The gang arrived too late in the evening to do anything but head to their suites and unpack. The first round would begin early next morning. They did not have the time to play around in the park either, much to Alice's disappointment. But at least their room had a TV. "Is the room doing it for you?" Emily and her sister took one suite. Uno had his room all to himself. "Better than fine. If I can sleep on your couch I can sleep anywhere." He had nothing to complain about, even the pillows were perfectly soft. "...Maybe we should train a little, before it all starts tomorrow?" Alice said, not for the first time. "I keep telling you, Relax. No need to get tensed up. Tomorrow's concerns are for tomorrow." Uno shrugged it off and dropped down on his bed. It was hard to believe he was here now. "You're right. Whatever happens happens." She nodded. Winning would be nice, but it wouldn't be worth anything if it wasn't fun.

...

"WELCOME LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" And fun was the word of the day, in Doms case. "ARE YOU ALL GETTING COMFORTABLE?" His voice blared through every speaker in the stadiums. Duelists and duelist enthusiasts filled the thousands of seats in the open amphitheater. Each guild was heavily represented by their friends and family as well. "Round one is just about to begin!" Dom was their host, standing in his own personal skybox and shouted into his mike at the top of his lungs. The masters excitement infected the audience and they all burst out into hysterics.

"You made it!" Down below in the front row, Cassius waited. "I know, I know we're late." His friends dropped by during the first few duels of the day. "We would have made it sooner, but we got lost." Emily stated. They wouldn't have gotten off track except her sister had to stop and marvel at some object or landmark every turn. "This place is huge. Was it a Colosseum, like from really long ago?" Alice's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "Eh, not that old. Dom bought this place and converted it into a place for duels. It used to be a concert hall back in the 17th century." That explained why it looked less like a sport arena and more like they were about to watch a musical. "Well we're here now. I hope your partners don't mind." Uno noticed a good dozen synchro guild members to his left and right. It was expected for them and for Emily to stay with Cassius, but he and Alice were not from the same guild. "I wouldn't have given you our seatnumbers if I didnt want you here, Uno. They wont be difficult. You're my friends and they know it. The odds of us having to fight right away are minimal."

"Ah. Then.. mind telling us how this usually goes?" Uno and the Brandts were the newbs here. Cassius had done this before. "Of course. With 64 players we will have six rounds across six days. Today we're in the elimination round where duels are done in quick succession. You are not told who your opponent is until the previous one ends. Who you face depends on your ranking. High seeds like me usually get paired up with low seeds like.. you. But again, low odds. Though Dom is personally hosting the tournament this year, so he might throw some rules around." That man liked to keep the duelists guessing. "Who are the top seeds anyway, besides you? I am guessing Adamant is one." Emily theorized. Not that she needed to. A familiar explosion went off in the background. The losing opponent had been overwhelmed by a Raidraptor XYZ-monster. "THE WINNER IS ADAMANT!" Dom screamed and the cheers followed. "You guessed it. The champion from last year gets the first duel this year. Looks like he made it a short one."

"THE NEXT DUEL WILL BE.." As Adamant walked off the stage, indifferent to the praise from the people around him, Dom started his slotmachine. A huge screen at the top of the theater, which usually gave live close-ups of the duel for those in the backrows, now displayed two new images. "JORIS BAKKER AND EMILY BRANDT!" It was go-time. "Me? Already?" If Emily had understood any of what was going on with the bracket, she might have anticipated this. "I guess so! Go ahead, Emily." Cassius stepped out of the way. From where they stood, it was a short walk to the dueling stage. "Okay." Emily shuddered a little. "You got this, Em! Don't be scared!" Alice encouraged her. Her big sister braced herself and steeled her nerves. "This is..easy. Still wish mom and dad could be here." Emily groaned and walked forward. "Wait. Your parents could not make it?" Cassius had been speculating as to why they were the only three to show up. "Mom says she will come as soon as she can, but she doesn't know when that is." Alice sighed. She would miss their first few duels either way. "And dad's not here. His boss wouldn't let him leave work yet. But he can watch us on TV right?"

She was right. This entire event was shown on the national public channel, live. "Oh. There she is." Mr. Brandt could see his little girl walk unto the stage. "Show them what you're made off, Emily!" He said loudly, as if she could hear from across the country. He would have liked to do more than watch. From where he was he could not even hear what the duelists were saying. All he had to listen to was the energetic host. "IF YOU ARE JUST TUNING IN FOLKS, I will bring you up to speed! One one side we have the fierce redhead and newcomer Emily, who just joined the synchro guild. On the other end is our lean man Bakker from the fusion guild. One can tell by the merchandise all over him! Let's join back in, shall we? Emily has just set one card down in her spell/trap zone and one monster face-down. What will her deck be? She is not telling, so we wont spoil the surprise either! The ball is in Bakkers court! He hasn't changed his deck from last year! We know his favorites!"

Bakkers LP: 8000 Emily's LP: 8000

"Does she look nervous? I can't see from here." Alice tried to get a better angle, since Emily was standing with her back towards them. Her sister had taken her first turn calmly enough. "Not to me. Trust her, Alice. It is always better to start of defending, especially with her deck." Cassius folded his arms and smiled. "Oh from what I hear, I know she can win." Uno claimed. For once he would actually be able to see one of Emily's duels.

In fact it got quite easy for Emily, once she focused on just the duel. She felt all her worries just slip away. It helped that Bakker was all about being vocal. "Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman!" The duelist summoned a very young six-legged dragon(1/400/300) with white feathers all over its body. "I add a Destruction Sword card from my deck to my hand!" The Whelps effect was used to search his deck, a move that Dom helpfully explained in the background. "Buster Blader, the Destruction Swordmaster!" That was Bakkers choice of card. "Man, that is a mouthful. Just say Buster Blader." Emily was not going to bother with the full name. In fact, part of the monsters effect was to be treated as a normal Buster Blader. "Hrumph! Do not disrespect the Buster!" Bakker removed the Whelp from his field. It could be tributed to special summon a Buster Blader monster from his hand or graveyard. Naturally the Destruction Swordmaster was what he put on his field. "He shall attack you now!" The dragon hunter knight(7/2600/2300) in blue armor took out the golden sword on its back and used it to cleave Emily's set monster, Giant Rat(4/1400/1450) into bloodless pieces. "The monster slain by this Buster Blader is equipped!" The remains of the Giant Rat were absorbed by the warriors blade. "Now any monster with the same type as the Rat, can be destroyed if I unequip it! What do you think of the Buster now?" Bakker boasted.

"That's nice." Emily shrugged. She did not feel as overwhelmed by this duel as she thought she would. "But what I will summon is not another Rat." Giant Rat was a beast-type monster, which did not matter to all the machines in her deck. With the destroyed rat's effect, Emily special summoned the earth-elemental Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei(8/1000/3500) from her deck in attack position. The warrior switched itself to defense mode with its own effect. "Superheavy Samurais?" This came as quite a surprise to Bakker. He, like many other duelists, only knew Superheavy Samurais as an undersupported archetype. "Then I..will use Wizard Buster Destruction Sword!" He moved to his second main phase and equipped a monster from his hand to the Blader. It was another dragon whelp, which transformed into a pair of daggers. "I retake Buster Whelp!" Wizard Buster could be unequipped from Buster Blader, to retrieve a Destruction Sword card from the graveyard. "I set these two cards. Your move!"

"Worried I am gonna kill your Buster already? You act as if your traps aren't worth anything." Emily realized what Bakker was planning for his next turn. Benkei would kill Buster Blader, but a duelist could revive Buster Blader with a Buster Whelp card. "Still." Emily drew her next card. It was not precisely what she wanted, but it would do. "I activate the spell card, Galaxy Cyclone. It destroys your left spell or trap." Her Galactic cyclone could shatter only face-down spell and trap cards, she would at least take care of one problem. "That was Miracle Restoring." Bakker took the card of his field. He still had one trap left. "..." Emily went for it. "I can do the hand-thing too. I activate Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer!" She placed a monster card on Benkei as an equipment card. Soulpiercer was a bow, and Benkei grabbed it with his hands. "Soulpiercer adds 1000 defense points to a Heavy Samurai! And you probably already know, Superheavies attack from defense mode!" The big samurai(1000/4500) did not make one forward move. He fired from where he stood. The soulpiercing arrow struck Buster Blader and killed it. "I set a monster and end my turn!"

Bakkers LP: 6100

"Buster!" Bakker cried out for his monster like it was a dear friend. "I will avenge him. Right now!" As soon as his turn began, he re-normal summoned the Buster Whelp(1/400/300). This time he used that monsters effect to add a Destruction Swordmaster spell card to his hand. Then he tributed the Whelp to revive Buster Blader from the graveyard. "Now!" He activated his other trap card. "Declaration of Rebirth! I declare a type, and all monsters on the field or in the graveyard will share that type!" He grinned. "I declare Dragon!" With one command, the Rebirth trap mutated Big Benkei and Buster Blader. Dragonic flesh, spikes and wings grew out of their armor. "What is that good for?" Emily had to ask. "For this! I activate Destruction Swordmaster Fusion!" There was the spell he added to his hand. "I can fuse monsters in my hand or on either side of the field, to create a fusion monster that requires Buster Blader as one material!" Buster Blader jumped into the fusion maelstrom. "The other material in this case will be.. a dragon!" Big Benkei was dragged in as well. "H-hey!"

 _Declaration of Rebirth, Continuous Trap  
_ _When you activate this card, declare 1 Type. All monsters on the field and in any graveyard are treated as the declared Type._

The dragonized samurai and swordsman were forced together, they would form the newer and tougher dragon slaying knight(8/2800/2500). "Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman. He can pierce through monsters and gains 1000 attackpoints for each dragon in the graveyard." All three cards in her graveyard only made the Dragon Destroyer(8/5800/2500) stronger. "I also equip these cards, Magnum Shield and Robot Buster Destruction Swordsman!" An equip spell and a dragon monster were given to Buster Blader. The former was a red and gold shield that added the destroyer(8300/2500)'s defense points to his attack points. The latter turned into sword with a blade of pure heat. "Let's see what stands in our way now! My fusion monster attack your hidden one!" Buster Blader, with his piercing sword, cleanly cleaved through Emily's set Superheavy Samurai Swordsman(1/1000/1800).

Emily's LP: 1500

"Oof! She barely made it." Uno gasped out loud. "Oh no! How will she fight back now?" Alice was worried. The last thing she wanted was for her sister to lose in round one. But the crowd was shouting like it was over and done. "Nah. It's not over yet." Only Cassius kept his confidence. "Her victory is already there, and she sees it."

"Right. Two can play at that game.." Emily took a card from her deck. "I assume you did not forget that when you took away Big Benkei, his Soulpiercer equipment was destroyed?" A 'sent to the graveyard' Soulpiercer searched the deck for Samurais to add to its owners hand. Emily used this effect on a Superheavy Samurai tuner monster; Battleball. "TUNER? Oh my, do you see that?" Dom acted surprised over the intercom. As if his company had not made the card himself. "Gonna synch eh? No problem! Because my fusion monster negates the effects of all dragons on the field and forces them in defense position!" Thanks to the dragon Declaration, none of Emily's samurais could attack while in defense mode. This was also why Samurai Swordsmans attack reducing effect had not triggered earlier during its fight. "Bring on your synchro, if you can! Arms Buster Blade will stop any destruction spells you have too!" Its effect prevented the activation of spell and traps that were already on the opponents field.

"So?" To counter that, Emily activated the effect of Galaxy Cyclone from her _graveyard_. "My spell can also be banished from the graveyard, to destroy face-up spell and trap cards. I destroy Declaration of Rebirth!" The spatial cyclone swallowed the continuous trap. "Bah!" The dragon mutation was taken away from the dead and from the now less powerful fused Buster Blader(5300/2500). "Yeah, well. I bet your synchro still can not stand up to my fusion monster!" Bakker yelled defiantly. "Well you'd win that bet. But that is why I said 'two can play that game'." Emily normal summoned her tuner, a ballshaped steampowered samurai(2/100/800). "Meet Battleball. Now that I don't have spell or trap cards in my graveyard anymore, he can target one of your monsters and use them as the non-tuner material for a Superheavy Synchro summon!" Emily let the news sink in. "My monster? My Buster?" Bakker could then watch and only watch as Battleball turned into synchronizing rings. The rings circled around the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman. "No, NO!" It was reduced to eight level stars, and the ten-star synchro summon process began.

"You had your Buster, I have my warlord." A new Samurai(10/2400/3800) took shape. The samurai was immense; armored in gold, green, red and black. It was like a divine lord had stepped down in a mechanical armor. "Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo!" Of course it sat in defense mode. Like Big Benkei too could attack from that position. "I had no idea that Superheavies had synchros... But it can only give me 3800 points of damage." Bakker was a little relieved. He would survive an attack like that. "No, not really." Benkei stabbed his sword into the floor of the stage. "Hey Dom! I will do the honors!" She shouted at the masked man above. "Susanowo has another power! If there are no spells or traps in _my_ graveyard, I can take one of _his_!" The sword came back, as it punctured a certain equip spell. '!" Magnum Shield was set on Emily's field. "What?" Bakker spasmed. "Convenient." Emily flipped the equip spell, and equipped it to the Warlord. As it was in defense mode, Susanowo(2400/6200) gained defense points equal to his attackpoints. "Amazing." Bakker cried out.. "Yeah.. Direct attack!" Susanowo used his new shield to knock the opponents lifepoints away.

Bakker's LP: 0

The silence after the fatal blow lasted but a few seconds. "WE HAVE A WINNER! Emily defeats Bakker with her brilliant display of synchro summoning! Without a doubt she is going places!" Dom exploded with an unbridled passion. He heaped praise upon the winner, incited the duelists and shamelessly plugged the new synchro superheavy samurai cards that was now be available at any Dreamworld store. But for now Emily was the only one with such a powerhouse in her deck. "But..Buster." Bakker meanwhile received no cheers. He had failed his deck and his guild. "Hey don't take it so bad. I wouldn't have won if you hadn't used that equip spell." Emily tried to be a bit nice to him. They might have been on opposing sides, but the fusion guild was not the guild she disliked. "No. My loss is my loss. We.. I was weaker than you." He would have none of it and walked away. "Well..that's another way to see it." The girl shrugged.

Her opponent might have been down, but there were plenty of people happy with the outcome once she got back to the front row. "Did you see that!? You all saw it, right!" Her sister being one of them, and probably the one with the highest volume. "Uh yeah. I saw it. I was there." Emily did not want to make a big deal of it. Though it did feel like a rush. "Don't act like that. You did great. Just listen!" Uno motioned his hand to the rows above. The duelists were chanting Emily's name. "Oh god." Emily averted her face. She did not want _that_ much attention. "Heh. You've earned it. What did I tell you guys? You were betting she would lose in the first round, werent you?" Cassius looked at his fellow guildsmen. "Hey. We weren't serious." Jet coughed and rubbed his neck. "But she wouldn't have made it without the guild." It had been Cassius who told Dreamworld to make new Superheavy Synchro monsters for Emily's deck. He had also given her better spells and traps like Galaxy Cyclone. Those cards could banish themselves to make the graveyard spell and trap-free. "I think you're just happy I can't duel you, Jet." Emily said with a grin. She was in too good a mood to let him wear her down.

"Cassius.. the next duel is about to be anounced." One of the other synchro duelists spoke up. The big screen was flipping photos again. "Oh I get it now. It's like he's shuffling a deck!" Alice laughed. The screen finally stopped at two pictures. "!" Another familiar face appeared.

'THE NEXT DUEL WILL BE BETWEEN AKAI DIAZ AAAAAAND THE MYSTERIOUS... UNO!"

(To be Continued in Annex 027: Welcome, Oddball Guild)

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer  
Superheavy Samurai Battleball

-  
Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo

-  
Galaxy Cyclone

 **Cards used by Joris Bakker  
** Buster Whelp of the Destruction Swordsman  
Buster Blader the Destruction Swordsman  
Wizard Buster Destruction Sword  
Robot Buster Destruction Sword

-  
Buster Blader, the Dragon Destroyer Swordsman

-  
Destruction Swordsman Fusion  
Magnum Shield

-  
Miracle Restoring  
 _Declaration of Rebirth (+)_

 _(+ Based on the Trap used by Kaiser Ryo in YuGiOh GX)_


	27. Welcome, Oddball Guild

**Annex 027: Welcome, Oddball Guild**

"So about those odds you mentioned, Cassius." The results were in and Uno would be the next to duel. Akai, his opponent, was standing right next to him. "Oh. Didn't see that coming. Well.. as a friend, I wish you luck, Uno. But as a guildsmen, I have to wish Akai more luck. So.." Cassius balanced his hands. Instead of saying anything, he just kept his mouth shut. "Whatever." Akai rolled her eyes and walked to the stage with determination. Uno waited. Emily saw him hesitating. "Hey don't get cold feet now. This is what you came here for. If someone has to lose, better to you then to anyone else." She wanted to see a full-out duel between them. "Oh it's not that. I just wanted to give my opponent the spotlight before I followed." Uno claimed. He knew perfectly well what was at stake, and he had no desire to lose. "Good to go." Once Akai stood in position, he stepped out to meet the views of the many, with his red glasses his big grin and his . This would be his first duel for the entire nation. Millions of people would see him. He had chills all throughout his body. the good kind. _"Well, even if it all goes south. This moment alone makes it worth it."_

"THERE HE IS, Uno lastnameunknown from the Oddball guild! Once an agent of promotion, now an adversary of all guilds! Will he be the one to introduce you to the new age of dueling?" Dom was warming the crowd up to the idea of pendulum summons. Something Uno naturally planned to show off. "Hello Akai." He met his opponent and looked at her. "We met before.. didn't we?" She had various traits that Uno's memories attributed to duelists from his short past; spiky auburn hair with bangs, a long white coat, fingerless gloves. Yet Uno could not put them all together no matter how much he tried. "Yes. Twice. When that woman invaded and before you went to the fusion guild." She stated with a half-annoyed tone. "Oh, sorry. We didn't get to talk much." She probably wasn't lying, but Uno still couldn't picture those encounters in his head.

"I'll give you a pass on that; amnesia and all. But if you wont forget me again after this duel." Akai activated her dueldisk. "I know why you're here. But this is my first tournament too and I want to make a name for myself. If you want to win, you gotta earn it!" The first turn fell on her. Akai drew five cards and placed four of them face-down in her spell/trap zone. "Voila! That is what you have to work with. My turn's over."

Akai's LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"What is this, what is this? No monsters, just spells and traps? Is this duelist insane or just unfortunate! Who knows!" Dom reacted like he usually did. Uno was starting to feel like this guy was going to overshadow him. He couldn't have that. "With a setup like that. It can only be one thing, right Akai?" Uno had an idea of what was coming, but she was not telling. "Oh well. I can pretend to be the fool." Uno drew his card. "Liven up guys! It is time for your debut in the big house!" Uno normal summoned his faithful opener, Performapal Whip Snake(4/1700/900). "You can't entertain such a wide audience by yourself, Whip Snake!" Uno then activated the effect of the Performapal Helprincess in his hand. He had normal summoned a Performapal, allowing the princess(4/1200/1200) to be special summoned in attack position. "You realize the crowd cant hear you, right?" Akai wondered if this act was for them or just for her. "I cant stop now, Akai. Anyway, show me what traps you got! Whip Snake, Direct attack!" The snake rolled itself up and sprung upwards.

"I hardly have to do anything to stop that." Akai flipped only one of her trap cards. "Abyss Strungray. This continuous trap card will summon itself as a monster card!" An electric stingray(5/1900/0) with glowing lines all over its body was summoned in face-up defense position. It occupied a monster zone as well now. "I know better than to try and fight back against that snake." If she had tried to summon Stungray in attack mode, Whip Snake would just switch its attack and defense points. This way she would take no damage. Neither would her trap monster. "Abyss Stungray cannot be destroyed in battle!" The trap monster protected its body with a field of lightning. "Trapmonsters. I guessed so. It could have been worse. At least my pals live to fight another turn." Uno held Helprincess back and ended his turn. "Sounds like you did some homework before this duel began, Akai." She took no time at all to read the effects of his cards. She just knew. "I do homework before all my duels. I know what most duelists like to use. Sure there are some who throw in surprises. I hate to say it, Uno.. but you're a tad predictable."

"My turn!" Akai drew a card. "I assume you know how much time it takes to summon trap monsters _._ There are ways around it." Akai flipped another normal trap card. "Here is one; Boobytrap E! It discards one card to set a continuous trap from my graveyard." There was only one card in the grave, the one she sent out of her hand just now. "And that trap can be activated in the same turn it is set." Boobytrap E placed a trapmonster face-down in the spell/trap zone and Akai switched it to her monster zone in face-up defense position. It was a six-legged bug-like statue(7/0/2500). "Statue of Anguish Pattern! This trap monster cannot be targeted by effects as long as I control another trap! Also, whenever a trap or spell card is summoned as a monster.. I can destroy one card you control. Like so.." A third trap monster was activated, a shield and sword-wielding tiki statue(4/1000/1800). "I summon Tiki Soul. And I destroy Performapal Whip Snake." The lined pattern of of the Anguish Statue turned red. Uno's snake was covered with the same markings, and it looked like it was in pain.

"Whip Snake!" Uno had precious few seconds to make his move. The Snake could use its powers during his opponents turn as well. "Before you go, give the Stungray a parting gift!" The snake slapped the Abyssal ray(0/1900) with its tail, so that all its points were switched around for one turn. Afterwards Uno's monster blew up. "You may have the bigger cast now. But they lack a bit in staying power, Akai!" Anguish Pattern had no attackpoints and Tiki Soul could not fight against Helprincess either. At least one Performapal was safe this turn. "You might want to look again." Akai activated another continuous trap that changed into a monster. "Trap card; Shapesister!" A demonic metamorphic woman(2/0/0) oozed out a metallic puddle on the floor. "That same old gag?" This time the Statue of Anguish Pattern sent its light of pain towards the Helprincess. She cried out and disappared in a fiery explosion. "You are not a big fan, are you?"

"Neither are they." Akai referred to the duelists in their seats. Uno could make out enough of their shouting to realize they wanted to see what made him special. They wanted to see a pendulum summon. "Oh. Looks like they're all done with the opening act!" Uno really wished he had a mike to use. "So am I, Uno. You knew this was coming. I will synchro summon.." Shapesister was a tuner monster. By combining it with Tiki Soul on the field, she could special summon a level 6 synchro monster. "Totem Sentinel!" A tower of winged statues(6/2500/1000), each with a different emotion carved into its face, took the zone between the Statue and Stungray. "Of course.. synchro monsters." Uno groaned. The very next second he was assaulted by three laser beams from the totemheads, a direct attack to his lifepoints. "Time to stop playing around, Uno!" She placed one trap card face-down and ended her turn.

Uno's LP: 5500

 _Totem Sentinel, 6/2500/1000 Light/Rock/Synchro  
_ _1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters  
_ _During either player's turn, when a spell or trap card is activated while you control a face-up spell or trap card; destroy it._

"Wait. That effect." When Uno's draw phase came, he gained the last pendulum monster he needed to perform a pendulum summon. There was just one snag. "Since Pendulum scales are treated as spells, my Sentinel will destroy them. That is what you are talking about, right?" Akai had a cocky grin on her face. "Well that and I've never seen your card before. I might have forgotten a few things, but the long list of synchros is not one of them." He had to assume she had it made the same way Emily got Warlord Susanowo. "That is quite a specific amnesia. But you're right. I used my credits to have Dreamworld make Totem Sentinel for me, specifically so that I could counter the incoming wave of Pendulum monsters. I expected some duelists would be using them once Dom announced them. It's too bad that it had to be you."

Uno's options were limited. If he tried to use his pendulum zones, the cards would just be shattered. _"Timegazer Magician.. I could summon him."_ Uno had a possible answer, Timegazer's monster effect prevented the first destruction of a card in a pendulum zone. _"That wont work, Uno. She will just destroy the next pendulum you set. It has to happen in one turn."_ He could defend and stall..those were his options. "I..set a monster card." He just needed time, luck and a little help from his deck. "Imperial Custom." Fortunately, the trap that Akai had set was not a trap monster, so the Statue of Anguish would not destroy any monsters this turn. What she did flip was a continuous trap card, one that made all other continuous traps impervious to destruction. "Attack." Abyss Stungray(1900/0) was switched to attack position so it could destroy Uno's facedown Timegazer Magician(3/1200/800). _"Sorry buddy. Your first appearance as a monster was a bit lackluster."_ Uno lamented the loss while Akai wailed on him with another direct laser attack from the Totem Sentinel. "I set a trap card and end my turn."

Uno's LP: 3000

 _"Now, come on deck!"_ Uno pulled the next card and inspected it. _"A spell?"_ It was inevitable that would draw a non-monster card. He had only drawn monsters so far. But this was the worst timing. _"..maybe I can. No, wait Uno. If you strike first, she will just counter. You have no idea what trap she set this time."_ If it was a trap monster, he could kiss all his plans goodbye. "I set these two cards." He went with a safer approach. The spell card and the monster card were placed face-down on the field. "What is he doing? Why isn't he fighting back?" The spectators grew restless. This duel bored them, they wanted to see it end.

"That Akai. Uno got a bad match-up." Cassius shook his head. He knew Akai as a very reflexive duelist; back when she first tried to join the guild she switched decks time after time to lock down her opponents. "But Uno can still win, right? He has to!" Alice did not want to believe it was over, even while she could see Uno slowing down.

"Have you given up? Or are you gambling?" Akai was confused too. "Either way." As her turn began she flipped her trap and summoned the Tiki Curse trap monster(4/1800/1000). "I'm choosing your fate now." Anguish Patterns effect was activated. Akai could choose to destroy either Uno's monster or his other card. "I will destroy.." She wanted to destroy the latter, as any logical duelist would. She could just destroy his monster with an attack. However, Uno did not look remotely concerned.. at first. "Your.." It was when she showed her own hesitation, that he stopped smiling. _"He is trying to bluff me with that spell!?"_ That was the cue Akai would act upon. "...monster!" The Statue sent its pain to the set monster card, destroying it.

"Well. Goodbye Fire Mufflerlion." Uno did not look saddened. "Oh. Oh!" That was when Akai realized she had made a mistake, when that smile came back. "A double bluff!" When Performapal Fire Mufflerlion died, Uno activated his set quickplay spell card; Illusion Balloons. "What can I say? I was still pretending.. That stops now!" Five balloons popped up on the field. "Illusion Balloons! When a monster of mine is destroyed, I can excavate the top five cards from my deck! If there is a Performapal among them, I may summon him!" One balloon after the other popped, revealing the next card in Uno's deck. "Is there even a performapal strong enough to stop my Sentinel?" Akai's studies also told her that Uno always needed Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to do the heavy lifting. "I will let you in a secret, Akai. There are so many Performapals than I can put in my deck. Every duel I try something a little different.." The last balloon popped, the cards (Magical Star Illusion, Command Performance and the Performapals Kaleidoscorpion, Silver Claw and Elephammer) were displayed. "Today you can meet Elephammer!"

The card Uno chose was a blue elephant(6/2800/1800) with a colorful hammer at the end of its trunk-nose. "Gah." His monster barely surpassed her synchro monsters attackpoints. Just 100 attackpoints stood in the way of her victory. "I can't believe you tricked me..I had you. I shouldn't have gone against my first instinct." Akai switched Stungray to defense mode but kept the Totem in attack position. If it had to die, she was not going to let it go to anything weak. "Yet you did. And I am very grateful..and glad. A duel is not just who has the best cards, it is a performance of two minds!" The turn passed back to Uno and he drew again. "I know you people want to see big sweeping moves each turn, but sometimes you gotta have the slow build-up." Uno yelled as loud as he could. They had to hear something. "But don't worry, I'll give you what you want! I set the scale, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer!" Uno placed a redcoateded tophat wearing magician in the blue pendulum zone. "Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? Totem Sentinel is still here!" So Akai activated her synchro monsters effect. The top totem fired a blast at the Sorcerer.

"Nope. Because I have another quickplay spell, Pendulum Impenetrable!" Uno played the spell from his hand, it protected the pendulum zone and deflected the blast. "Cards in the pendulum zone cannot be destroyed or targeted by effects this turn!" So Uno was free to place another card in the red zone. "Performapal Lizardraw!" The orange lizard joined the wizard, and the two columns glowed. "You are going to pendulum summon with those?" The Sorcerer and Lizard carried the scales of 2 and 6; only level 3, 4 and 5 monsters could be called out this way. "No, actually. I activate Performapal Lizardraw's pendulum effect." The lizard disappeared from the pillar of light. "Lizardraw can be tributed when a Performapal sits in the other pendulum zone. It tributes itself to draw a card from my deck! That card.." Uno gained a monster. "Is Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" He activated it, as a spell card. The scale 4 dragon filled in for the sacrificed Lizard. "Scale 2 and 4? That is even worse!?" Akai stammered. Now Uno could only summon level 3 monsters!

"Oh Akai.. You'd be amazed at what you can do, even with these scales!" Uno raised his hand to the sky. "Ladies, gentlemen, and people from Dreamworld. You have come from far to witness this. So let it be shown!" Uno took three cards from his extra deck; pendulum monsters that had either been destroyed or tributed, and one monster from his hand. "I pendulum summon my Magician and Pals!" Timegazer Magician appeared. The Performapals Fire Mufflerlion(3/800/800), Lizardraw(3/1200/600) and Hip Hippo(3/800/800) followed. Akai was utterly baffled. "You actually did...wait, huh?" Not only were there five monsters on the field now, four of them were covered in a strange glow. "You didn't think my other Pendulum would just be a prop, did you? When a pendulum summon takes place, Pendulum Sorcerer adds 1000 attackpoints to all Performapals!" The Sorcerers magic enhanced the powers of the Lion(1800/800), Hippo(1800/800), Lizard(2200/600) and the most important performance beast, Elephammer(3600/1800). "Speechless yet?"

"Oh, I should mention one more thing.." Uno switched towards the battle phase. "Elephammer's power." The elephant slammed his hammer-snout down on the stage, sending a rumbling wave throughout Akai's zones. "You didn't." Akai's trap monsters and Imperial Custom were all pushed back into her hand. "Haha! I didn't. Elephammer did! The big lug can't help but send all traps and spells off the field when he attacks." The effect did not target, so the Anguish Pattern Statue was not immune. Imperial Custom did not stop non-destruction effects. Tiki Curse and Stungray could only defend against monster attacks. "That just leaves your number one." The actual attack connected. Elephammer bonked the Synchro totem in its faces and sent each piece rolling away like balls in a game of croquet.

Akai's LP: 6900

"Now! Watch closely. Blink and you will miss it!" Uno directed his gaze towards the skybox in the upper ring. "This one's for you!" Lizardraw and Timegazer Magician jumped on top of the backs of Fire Mufflerlion and Hip Hippo. They charged Akai and created a ring of fire and magic. "Ah!" She was hit four times but the attacks were visualized as once combined maneuver that depleted her lifepoints all at once. It was a level of detail no duelist had ever seen in a dueldisk match. More importantly, the winner had been decided. "Finito!"

Akai's LP: 0

"AMAZING! THAT IS THE POWER OF PENDULUM! EVEN WITH A SCALE WIDTH OF ONE, HE MANAGED TO GO FROM NOTHING TO EVERYTHING! THE FIRST ONE-TURN KILL OF THE TOURNAMENT!" Naturally Dom could not contain himself. Uno assumed that this was exactly what he wanted; just another man to sell his cards for him. "Hey.." Because of Dom and the feedback he received from the crowds, Uno could hardly hear the words of the duelist right in front of him. "Hey Uno." Still, Akai had something to say. "Yes?" Uno expected some bitter retort, about how the rest of the guild would pay him back for this. What he got was a gesture. "That was a fun game, wasn't it?" She wanted to shake his hand. "Oh? Yeah! Thanks! It was. You were tough." He was all too happy to accept. "Yeah. I know. You got me with your double bluff. That was on me. Still, you must have wanted to win a little bit more than I did." Akai had never been fooled before. Mostly because she had never seen anyone act so smoothly while being desperate.

"That's true." That was one victory. Would it be enough to earn the masters trust? He did not think so. He still had to duel Iria and Zach. . _"They will be even stronger. That's just the way things are, Uno. If the first round is this close, we'll need a lot of new tricks for them.."_

(To be Continued in Annex 028: Sitra Achra)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Elephammer  
Performapal Pendulum Wizard

-  
Illusion Balloon  
Pendulum Impenetrable

 **Cards used by Akai Diaz  
** _Totem Sentinel_

-  
Abbys Stungray  
Boobytrap E  
Statue of Anguish Pattern  
Tiki Soul  
Shapesister  
Imperial Custom  
Tiki Curse


	28. Sitra Achra

**Annex 028: Sitra Achra**

"Hey girls." Uno returned to the ring to see the pleased smiles of Alice and Emily. "And you other guys." He also detected some animosity. The synchro guild did not look happy with the loss of Akai. "I knew she wouldn't make it." Boris scoffed. "Made it more than you, Boris. The better duelist won that's all." She was satisfied with how the duel went down, and she wouldn't take sass from someone who did not even get into the tournament. "Well I think that was spectacular." Cassius backed them both up a bit, since his words would carry more weight. "If one of ours had to go down, better to him than to one of the XYZ-guild. I am proud of you either way, Akai." For the guild only the winner of the entire tournament mattered. "But chief, what if you have to duel him? What if it comes down to just the last of us and the last of the 'Oddballs'." One member still voiced a legitimate concern. "I wouldn't worry about that. This is all a game for Dom to see how far I am willing to go. He probably rigged the matchups so that I would have to duel against one of you first." Dom could not count on Uno making it to the finals. But at least he would probably make him duel someone from the Fusion and XYZ-guild before he would get to Zach and Iria. "There's five more rounds to smooth things over.."

And so the duels continued. Cassius and Alice were not called in yet. The gang used that time to discuss matters like their victories and upcoming fights. "You loved every moment of that, didn't you?" Emily also liked to point out how much Uno talked it up in his duel. "And you didn't? The entire country was watching us win, watching us in action." Uno could not simply describe how he felt out there. Having all those people around was similar to having an infinite amount of friends. If he could not know himself, he would make the world know him. "I dunno. I just put them out of my mind while I was up there." With how focused she had been, it was just another normal dueling experience to her. "Actually it's closer to a dozen million. This is broadcasted in other countries too. You shouldn't underestimate the popularity of this game." Cassius said. "A dozen million? That is like.. one percent of a billion." Alice said with a shudder. "I don't even know that many people by name." It was hard enough to deal with every spectator here. "This is so..."

But the world was not that large after all. "Eric!" For Alice saw the face of someone who lived right next to them. "Eric? Where!?" Emily snapped her head to her left and her right. "No, above! I saw him walk along the upper ring! I'm positive!" Alice kept pointing to the rows in the back. "That's hard to believe." Emily did not see Eric anywhere, yet she knew her sister would not make something like this up. "Color me surprised. Guess he wanted to see us duel after all?" Uno was a little happier thanks to that thought. This event wouldn't feel complete without him. "Maybe. He's probably trying to look for us." Emily shook her head; Eric was going the wrong way if he was. "Got lost in his own town, right? Maybe I should go out to meet him. To see if he is even there." Cassius offered. But Emily raised her hand. "No. It should be me. You might get called out soon." It would be better if she went alone, since she had finished her duel already. "I am have chased Eric many times by now. I'll be back if something interesting happens. Seeya."

She was gone for good five minutes when Doms voice went into day's eleventh duel was starting. "ALRIGHT PEOPLE! WE HAVE REACHED ONE THIRD OF THE FIRST ROUND! The first break is coming up. But before you enjoy the taste of our free food and beverages, I will let you savor the taste of POWER!" It seemed like Uno's prediction about Dom was not unwarranted, as the master talked like he knew which duel was going to happen before the big screen had settled on two names. Either that or he was just told in advance so he could prepare his lines. "You will not want to miss this! From the XYZ-guild comes second-class duelist William Wilson! And from the independent Guild 'Dreamworld' comes our very own Iria Silver!" The masters applause dominated the soundscape as the woman in black walked down the stairs. "I see it is finally time for the disciples to make their entrance." Uno could not miss this.

Iria's LP: 8000 Williams LP: 8000

"Hmph. You're that bigshot from dreamworld? Feh! I've never seen your face before. Don't think you can waltz your way here with just your name!" William met his opponent and it was clear that he was not impressed. That assessment was mutual. "I would prefer for you to not talk during this engagement. Any sentence not involving the duel is pointless." She said dismissively and she was not done. "Nor do I require you to prattle on about the effects of your cards. I already know all I need to know." Dom would explain everything to the masses anyway. "So in fact, it would be better if you said nothing at all."

"Hahahaha! You've got some nerve! But in case you haven't been watching, my guild has won every duel they have been in so far! I am looking forward to breaking that snotty attitude of yours with the power of XYZ!" William drew five cards. "I will talk as much as I like!" William activated a continuous spell, Supply Squad. Then he summoned his monsters. "Tin Goldfish!" A toy tin fish monster(4/800/2000) was placed flat on the ground. As the host gracefully explained on the screen, Tin Goldfish could special summon a level 4 monster from a players hand when it was normal summoned. "And Star Drawing!" A young sprite-faced spellcaster(4/1600/1000) with crossbolts all over its clothes was then special summoned with the effect of the Goldfish. "And Inari Fire! And Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness!" The next two monsters were special summoned. The fiery fox Inari(4/1500/200) and the feral marmot Archfiend Eater(4/1500/200) could be special summoned if a spellcaster existed on the field.

Their effects were very similar to a certain other duelists monsters, Uno noticed. "Is his deck the same as Stans? I thought there were rules against that." He objected. "It must be different enough to satisfy Doms variety stipulation." Cassius reasoned. This deck seemed less focused on reptiles for one thing. When it came to the extra deck though, all bets were off. "XYZ-summon!" William overlayed Star Drawing with Archfiend Eater. "I draw one card!" Star Drawings effect allowed its player to draw once, after it was used attached to an Xyz-monster. "And I summon Gear Gigant X!" The result was neither man nor beast. The overlayed cards formed a red/green and blue robot(4/2300/1500) with a gear on its back. "And I activate his effect!" Gear Gigant searched the deck for machine monsters of the 4th level. William detached Archfiend Eater to add a second Tin Goldfish to his hand. "Then I activate the effect of Archfiend Eater! It destroys a monster to revive itself!" The Nefarious one ate the flames of the fire fox and resummoned himself back to the field in defense position.

"Why did he do that?" It looked like a backwards move to Alice. "To help his spell." Cassius referred to Supply Squad. Once each turn, when a monster was destroyed, Supply Squad would draw one card for its duelist. Inari Fire's destruction added a new card to Williams hand. "Lady Dreamworld, you are very lucky that the first turn fell in my lap. Next turn you won't know what hits you." William placed a trap card face-down. After all that, he still had two cards in his hand and three monsters on his field. "I can imagine it." Iria still spoke like nothing had changed. "Next turn you will summon something like Diamond Dire Wolf next turn. That rank 4 XYZ-monster destroys beasts you control, to destroy cards I control. Archfiend Eater is a beast, and it can special summon itself each turn. Inari Fire meanwhile special summons itself after it was destroyed, during your next standby phase that is. Together with your spell card and Gear Gigant, you intend to start a process that will fill your hand and field at the same time. Am I wrong?" William kept his mouth shut this time, which proved that she had him figured out. "Of course I am not. I know every kind of maneuver you might attempt with cards like those."

Iria drew her card. "Since power is the only thing you seem to understand, I will tell you about mine and show you." She played a Mystical Space Typhoon spell card to destroy Williams face-down Solemn Warning counter trap card. "A power that no amount of numbers can overcome." Iria then took two cards from her hand. "Wait.." The big screen zoomed in on her dueldisk so everyone could see. Uno was the first to recognize why the disk got that kind of focus. "Her disk has Pendulum zones!" The left and right side of her field lit up, Iria placed two pendulum monsters! "Scale 1: Qliphort Disk. Scale 9: Qliphort Scout. With these cards, monsters from level 2 to 8 can be pendulum summoned." Strange new machines appeared in the pendulum pillars. A disk-shaped spaceship was in the blue zone. A scoutship with an intricate golden framework on the top hovered in the red zone. "All Qliphort monsters will gain 300 attackpoints while Qliphort Disk is placed in my pendulum zone. And now with Qliphort Scout is in the pendulum zone, I may pay 800 lifepoints to add one Qliphort monster from my deck to my hand, once during my turn." Iria payed the cost right away. "I claim Qliphort Carrier."

Iria's LP: 7200

"What are these?" It was safe to say that Iria had abandoned her Monarch deck. This was something unheard of; a deck full of pendulum monsters. "You don't know either?" Cassius and the rest of the duelists had the same amount of knowledge about the Qliphorts... nothing at all. "Dom." Uno witnessed the kind of Pendulums the Master had created.

"I summon two Qliphort Carriers." In between the light pillars two one-eyed carrier ships(6/2700/1000) hovered. "Qliphort Carrier's level will be reduced by 2 stars and its original attackpoints will be lowered to 1800. This limiter is applied to any Qliphort which is special summoned. You would say its power is only awakened during a normal summon" The intense glow inside the Carrier ships(4/2100/1000) decreased. "Therefor they need tributes... or they need to be tributed." Iria sacrificed both her monsters. "!" A higher level Qliphort was tribute summoned, a white/green machine shaped like a gastropod shell(7/3100/1000). "Qliphort Shell. It's effect has been unlocked. Qliphort Shell may attack twice if it was normal summoned." Laserpanels on the side of the monsters shell aimed directly at William. "Haha.. is that supposed to make me shake in my boots, lady? I will still have plenty of monsters left after this attack! And lifepoints! And cards in my hand!" William shouted. "Before you speak, you should look, mister William. What monsters are you standing in front of you now?"

"Eh?" William did a double-take. Only Tin Goldfish stood between him and Qliphoth Shell. "Did you truly not notice? When it was tributed, Qliphoth Carrier removed one monster from the field and forced it back in your hand. Just because your fingers neglect to touch the card, does not mean the dueldisk has to keep them visualized." Iria pointed two fingers at her opponent and his remaining card. "It is time to dispense with you. You take pride in your tactics, as if this game takes effort to understand. A monkey can play this game. All you need to win is force." Iria activated a spell card from her hand, Limiter Removal. "Sonnuva!" Limiter Removal doubled the attackpoints of the mechanical Shell(6200/1000). William was doomed. "And. I am the disciple of he who can shape power as he pleases. This is my first fight in one of your tournaments, true. I would not be here if not for the Master, true. Yet there we were.. who was going to win?" Qliphoth shell fired a precise beam to destroy Tin Goldfish.

Williams LP: 4200

"The answer was exceedly obvious to anyone with a brain." The second laser struck directly.

Williams LP: 0

"INCREDIBLE, BEYOND MY WILDEST EXPECTATIONS! NOT JUST A ONE-TURN KILL, BUT A FIRST-TURN KILL! The first of the tournament!" Dom was rather proud of his disciple's accomplishments and he was not above displaying said pride. _"Beyond his wildest expectations? Does he mean that?"_ Uno hoped not. Or else the creator of cards had no clue what he wanted to unleash on the gaming world _. "The last thing these people need is something like a Pendulum guild."_ Of course the more immediate problem was Iria herself. Now Uno saw what Dom really wanted. He wanted to see which pendulums were better. Though that implied something Uno had not considered before. _"He didn't make my cards?"_ It was a question for later. The first round still had to end. As Iria returned to the skybox, leaving her opponent silenced and dispirited, the big screen started flipping faces again. Though there would be a 15minute break, Dom wanted people to know which duel they could look forward to next.

"What the.." Jet from the synchro guild was one of them. "That's just funny." And his opponent was Alice.

"She has to fight against my guild too?" Cassius was starting to see Uno's point from before. This all was a bit too coincidental for his tastes. "Hey, Alice.. I.." He wanted to put her at ease, if he could have. "Alice?" But she wasn't there anymore. "She's gone?" The girl was nowherein sight. "Aaron? Who is gone?" Emily came back just in time to hear his outcry. "Your sister.. she.. We didn't see her leave." Uno said. Like Cassius, he had been to captivated by Iria's performance to look at anything else. "I saw her go inside, to the breakroom area." One of the other guild duelists spoke up. "She did? Why would she.. is she trying to find Eric? Did she forget something? I told her to make sure she had her cards with her! Gah, now she'll miss her duel!" Now Emily had to go look for someone else too, since Eric had eluded her so far. "You don't have to go. I will look for her. She can't be that far." Uno felt partly responsible for this. She was a member of his guild. "Fine. You do that. Just get her back quickly." Emily was too exhausted from all that running to do it again anyway. "I wouldn't bother, we all know who is going to win." Jet snickered. "Jet, hold that thought." Uno sighed. There was no time to get in a discussion with that guy. "Be right back!"

Within minutes Uno found her. "Alice!" He saw her sitting on a bench in the hallway. "Alice? Hey what's wrong?" When he got closer he also saw that something was definitely up. The girl was shivering and breathing at a rapid rate. This was not just her tiring herself out. "Uno!?" She let out a startled cry. It was only when he stood right next to her that she realized he was there. "N-nothing's wrong! I just... I was.." The girl tried and failed to get a sentence out. "Alice. You didn't just forget something, did you?" Uno had an idea what this was about. "Is it the people? Are you worried about how you will do in front of everyone?" Though she did not answer him, she did not deny what he said either. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. It's perfectly natural. I mean we have a word for it and everything; Stage fright. You know what entertainers like to do to combat this feeling?"

"Y-you picture the audience..naked?" Alice said with a shaking voice. "No. Not exactly. That'd just be distracting." Uno laughed. His response managed to get a brief smile from Alice as well. "Y-yeah. I guess. It wouldn't work on people I-I can't see anyway." It would be hard to picture everyone who was watching from the other end of the TV. "Indeed. No, I think you should try to laugh it off. Laughter is the best medicine, in my opinion. Just get your mind of what is going to happen in ten minutes and use the time you have now. If you want I could hit you with my best jokes! Or we can check up some funny videos online, anything you want." He sat down next to her and held her trembling hand. "And if that doesn't work, If you really do not want to do it, I'm okay with it." He was serious. If she couldn't do it, he would not force her. "No..I.." Alice's hand stopped trembling. "I can't do that! I'm your only partner! I can't..let the oddballs down." She got up. Seemed like her anxiousness had disappeared. "I will do it. I can do it."

"Are you sure?" He asked. She nodded her head with determination. "Alright. Then I suppose we should get back. Unless you want something to drink." She shook her head this time. "No. I am ready. But..Uno.. don't tell Emily about this when we get back. Just say I tried to find Eric." Alice made her request. On the surface Uno understood why, since she probably did not want to make her sister worried. "Of course." Still he wondered if there was more to it.

...

"Sir. Might I bother you with a question." Zach approached his master. Dom now had some time off from shouting over the mike. "Bother me? Never! I want to hear every thought that pops up in your mind, Zachary." Dom sat down in yet another massive chair and waited for what Zach had to say. "There have been rumors that the bracket is fixed. First with Uno's duel and now this Alice girl. I checked the duel logs and she has dueled Jet before. I just wanted to know if there was any truth to this. If my duel will be fixed too." Zach just found it too convenient. Dom had promised a big plan for Uno, and it would all be ruined if he accidentally ran into Iria and Zach too soon. "Well rumors are ugly. I might have made things a bit more interesting here and there." Dom said nothing specific and basically admitted his guilt at the same time. "Not for you though. I know you and Iria don't need it, you know you don't need it. Your opponent will be randomly chosen." Dom spun around and looked down at the dueling stage. "But in this case I couldn't resist. I wanted to see this rematch as soon as I found out which new deck Alice picked."

(To be Continued in Annex 029: Stick to the Shallows)

 **New Cards used by Iria Silver  
** Qliphort Scout  
Qliphort Disk  
Qliphort Carrier  
Qliphort Shell

-  
Mystical Space Typhoon  
Limiter Removal

 **Cards used by William Wilson  
** Tin Goldfish  
Star Drawing  
Inari Fire  
Nefarious Archfiend Eater of Nefariousness  
Gear Gigant X

-  
Supply Squad

-  
Solemn Warning


	29. Stick to the Shallows

**Annex 029:** **Stick to the Shallows**

"Ah, there you are." Breaktime was over and Dom was calling for the contestants to take the stage. "At least you showed up." Jet had been waiting long enough to wonder if there even would be a duel. His opponent only showed her face at the last minute. "Better to face defeat than run away. Heh." Jet was ready, his dueldisk was active. "Y-yeah." Alice had pushed herself this far, thanks to Uno. But now she was alone. "..." She placed her hand on her chest and felt her beating heart. Alice breathed in and out until it slowed down. "I am ready too." Her jitters did not escape her sisters notice. "Hey. Is she okay? She looks a bit anxious." Emily asked Uno. "Oh?" He had promised Alice to not tell her sister. Though that did not mean he had to lie. "Only as anxious as anyone else would be. I told her she would do fine, and she will... This will be her turn to amaze everyone."

Alice's LP: 8000 Jet's LP: 8000

With both disks connected, the duel was set. The first turn was handed to Jet. "Now this is more my speed!" Jet drew his cards. He played a continuous spell first. "This cool card is Black Whirlwind!" Then he normal summoned one of his blackwings, a small bow-wielding crow(3/1200/1000) with a red-feathered turban on its head. "Whenever I normal summon a blackwing, Black Whirlwind will give me a whole new Blackwing from my deck. Though it must have less attackpoints then the Blackwing I summoned. So seeing as how I summoned Blaxckwing Pinaki the Waxing Moon.." Jet pulled out a monster with just 800 attackpoints. "I can add Gladius the Midnight Sun to my hand! Gladius can be special summoned if I only have one Blackwing on the field!" Jet called out the second black bird, a knightly blackwing(3/800/1500) wielding twin daggers. "Pinaki is a tuner. You can tell where I am going with this.." Jet sent the two monsters to the grave to synchronize them. "I synchro summon Blackwing Nothung the Starlight!" The dark raven warrior(6/2400/1600) was formed. "Remember him?" Nothung could inflict 800 points of damage whenever he was summoned. Alice took the damage as the synchro Blackwing hurled his sword at her.

Alice's LP: 7200

"..." Alice did not move, aside from an involuntary flinch. "Well you got the hang of holographic attacks. Good. There'll be plenty of them! I normal summon Blackwing Jin the Rainshadow!" A small blue bird(1/600/500) in green ninja robes appeared from Jets hand, unexpectedly. "Oh I should've told ya! Nothung has a second effect! I can normal summon another Blackwing from my hand each turn!" Thanks to this second summon, Black Whirlwind was activated again. Jet used it this time to add Blackwing Oroshi the Squall, with its mere 400 attackpoints, to his hand. "And Jin is a tuner monster too. So here is another one of your favorites!" Jin the Rainshadow and Nothung the Starlight were tuned together. "I synchro summon Blackwing Tamer - Obsidian Hawk Joe!" The redhaired blackwing native(7/2600/2000) flew down to the stage. Alice had not forgotten its effect either. "Obsidian Hawk Joe special summons a synchro blackwing from the graveyard!" The Tamer of Blackwings used his effect to revive one of its own synchro materials; Nothung. "Which means.." Nothung hurled his weapon at Alice a second time, to inflict another 800 points of damage. "Still with me?"

Alice's LP: 6400

"Does that guy have to be so brutal. Tch." Emily grunted. She did not know whether or not she could keep watching this. "Jet will never be satisfied with just one synchro summon. He doesn't even hold back against his own teammates." Cassius was unsure on which side he wanted to be right now. He was just thankful the Ante rule was not in place for this tournament. "And one more synchro for the road! I tune Oroshi with Nothung! And I summon Blackwing Armor Master!" As Jet controlled his Blackwings, the blue-brow Blackwing tuner(1/400/600) could be special summoned from his hand. Oroshi the Squall and Nothung the Starlight turned into the indestructible armored blackwing(7/2500/1500). "I end my turn. But that doesn't mean I am through yet! During my endphase Pinaki the Waxing Moon gives me a new Blackwing as well, as he was sent to the graveyard this turn." Jet used this effect to claim Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind. " _That_ was it. What're you gonna do this time, Alice? You changed more than your outfit I hope!"

"I.." Alice tried to draw her card. She failed because her hand was still trembling. "I will.." She tried to shake it, and when that did not work she slapped her hand against her cheek. "!" That seemed to help a little. "Draw!" She got the card out of her deck. "I will do this! I discard Nekroz of Brionac from my hand!" Alice discarded a blue card from her hand. The card's name was rather familiar-sounding, especially to a synchro duelist like Jet. "Brionac?" Brionac was one of the most notorious synchro monsters ever made. Too notorious in fact, Dreamworld had banned it from tournament play. This was not the same card, yet it made Jet think. "Don't tell me you went with synchro monsters after all your talk about not liking them?" Except what Alice had discarded had a different shade of blue from a spell card. "Wait. That is not.." It was something he had not seen in years. "A Ritual monster?" Nekroz of Brionac was a Ritual monster card, one with an effect that could be activated from the hand. "Nekroz? What is this? Where did you.."

"I bought them. I spent my guild-points on a new deck." Alice explained matter-of-factly. "Nekroz of Brionac adds a new Nekroz card to my hand; Nekroz Unicore." The card she claimed was another ritual monster. "You seriously went with rituals out of all the new cards dreamworld offered? They aren't even extra deck cards! You need them in your hand to summon them! What a waste!" Jet said derisively. Duelists hadn't won with ritual monsters in years. "These are different. Dom told me to get something new. I did.. I got something that didn't need an extra deck." Alice normal summoned a monster now, an aquatic witch(4/1600/800) in purple robes. Her long red hair flowed as if she was standing underwater. "Dance Princess of the Nekroz. Your cards cannot target Nekroz ritual monsters while she is on the field. You also cannot stop my ritual spells." Alice told him, just before she used one of those ritual spells. "Nekroz Cycle. I can sacrifice monsters to ritual summon a Nekroz ritual monster from my hand.. or graveyard." A golden portal was opened by the Dance Princess. Jet's grin disappeared. "From the graveyard?!"

"I sacrifice Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz. He can be a single sacrifice for Nekroz Ritual monsters, even if he does not have the right level. Also he adds a new Nekroz Warrior to my hand, if he tributed by a card's effect." Normally a ritualistic sacrifice had to have the same level as the Ritual monster. But in this case Alice could sacrifice a level 3 monster, Shurit, to revive the dragon she had discarded before. At the same time Shurit's other power added a Nekroz Trishula warrior monster to Alice's hand. "I ritual summon Nekroz of Brionac!" Instead of a pure beast, Nekroz of Brionac became an armor which the redhaired Strategist Shurit could wear. Nekroz of Brionac(6/2300/1400) was now a winged warrior of ice. But its powers were very similar to the Synchro dragons. "Brionac will return two monsters that were summoned from the extra deck!" Her ritual monster flapped its wings to unleash a snowstorm. "What?! No!" Jets Blackwings were covered in ice and shattered from head to claw. Obsidian Hawk Joe's protection effect could not negate multi-targeting effects like this. "With one monster.."

"I want to show you more, Jet." Alice activated a spell card. "Another ritual?" This time Jet saw Dance Princess create a blue mirror in the sky. This was not a second Nekroz Cycle spell. This one was called Nekroz Mirror. "Each Nekroz Ritual spell can only be used once a turn, but they can summon any Nekroz I want to. Cycle recycles what I lost. Mirror.. sacrifices what I lost." The spirit of Shurit flew into the mirror. He was banished from the graveyard. "I sacrifice Shurit in the graveyard to ritual summon Nekroz of Unicore from my hand!" This time a young white-haired mage(4/2300/1000) was called out. He donned the embodiment of Unicore from a long forgotten Fable, complete with a staff and a purple cape. "These are.. nothing like those mermails you used." Her opponent could still not fathom what was happening. "No. But I like these cards enough.. " Alice pointed a finger at Jet. "These three are for you." Nekroz of Brionac, Nekroz of Unicore and the Dance Princess made their direct attacks as the battle phase started. Ice, thunder and water blasts assaulted the other side.

Jet's LP: 1800

"She stopped using her old deck?" Emily knew that was expected of her. But she never really thought her sister would go through with it. The Nekroz only resembled the Mermals in their element; they were all water-attribute cards. "Only for as long as she needs to." Uno could finally talk about why he had been smiling all this time. "How long did you know about this?" Emily understood that Uno would know, as a fellow Oddball duelist. What she didn't understand was why Alice hadn't told her. "When she first got the cards. She wanted it to be a surprise. She wanted those cards."

"Did she? She doesn't look too happy with them."

"You keep blindsiding me, Alice." Jet had no idea a ritual deck could be this devastating. Her summoning speed matched his own. "But there is no way I am losing in the first round! I'm not like Akai or Boris!" It was his turn again. "Spell card, Against the Wind!" First he used a card to retrieve a Blackwing from his graveyard: Oroshi the Squall. This cost him lifepoints equal to that monsters attackpoints however.

Jet's LP: 1400

And then... he started unloading every Blackwing he got. "Shura the Blue Flame!" He normal summoned the blackwinged blue avian(4/1800/1200) with large claws. Black Whirlwind subsequently placed a Harmattan the Dust Blackwing with 600 attackpoints in Jet's hand. "Harmattan, Gale, Oroshi!" Then he special summoned three Blackwings in a row. Harmattan the black curlew bird(2/800/800) had the same effect as its brethren Gale the Whirlwind(3/1300/400) and Oroshi the Squall; they could all be special summoned if a Blackwing was already on the field. "Gale targets your Nekroz of Unicore!" The Whirlwind bird trapped the mage in a vortex to shave half of his(1150/1000) attackpoints away. "And Harmattan targets my own Blackwing Shura when he is summoned. The dust Blackwing will add the levels of the target to himself!" Harmattan(6/800/800) absorbed the four stars from Shura the Blue Flame. "Synchros will always be better, faster, stronger. Watch this! I summon Assault Blackwing - Raikiri the Rain Shower!"

The tuner Oroshi and the leveled up Harmattan united to create a more combat-oriented Blackwing. Raikiri was an knight(7/2600/2000) with a beakshaped helmet and one angel wing instead of two bird wings. "Assault Blackwing - Chidori the Light Rain!" The tuner Gale combined with Shura to create a similar blackwing. Chidori did have two black wings, but swords stuck out from the feathers and its armor was green instead of purple. "Raikiri can.. huh?" Their entrances were less glorious than Jet had planned for them to be though. "What is wrong with them?" Their effects were sealed, as visualized by a blue forcefield around the two Assault Blackwings. "It's the effect of Nekroz of Unicore. He negates the powers of all monsters that come from the extra deck." Alice revealed the source. Unicore was casting the binding spell with his staff. "So your entire deck is made to counter the extra deck? Tgh!" Jet started his battle phase instead. "Your ritual monsters are toast! Raikiri attacks Nekroz of Unicore!" The assault knight used his sword to cut down the Nekroz mage.

Alice's LP: 4950

"Good riddance." With it gone, Chidori's powers were unsealed. "Chidori gains 300 attackpoints for each Blackwing in my graveyard!" The souls of Pinaki, Gladius, Jin, Oroshi, Harmattan, Gale and Shura all came to Chidori's aid. Their spiritual energy made the sword of Chidori(7/4700/2000) crackle with lightning. "Next is your pretty Princess." Chidori swung his weapon to fire a bolt of thunder into the sky. The blast crashed back down on the Nekroz Dance Princess, instantly incinerating her. "Now that she is gone as well. I can target your Ritual monsters.." The battle phase ended. "For each Blackwing on my field, Raikiri the Rain Shower can destroy a card on yours!" Alice had only one remaining card, Nekroz of Brionac. When Raikiri swung his blade, he created a wave of cutting force that killed the warrior and shattered his armor like glass. "That's more like it." Jet placed a trap card down and ended his turn. This trap would be a nasty surprise for Alice. "I know you probably got all excited about your big chance for revenge. But that isn't going to happen!"

Alice's LP: 1850

"Revenge? I didn't want revenge." Alice wistfully stated as she began her turn. "I just wanted to duel, and help a friend. I didn't think I would see you again. I'm not sure if I am glad about it now. Except.." Her hand moved towards her graveyard. "I _am_ glad that I haven't lost yet." She took Nekroz Cycle and Nekroz of Unicore out of the graveyard. "Wh..what is happening now?" Nekroz Cycle had another effect even after it was used. Jet had no idea just how powerful these cards could get. "Nekroz ritual spells can banish themselves along with one other Nekroz monster. In return I may take a new Nekroz spell from my deck." Alice drew a second Nekroz Cycle spell. "If I want too, I could do the same with Nekroz Mirror." She could use these effects as long as there were no monsters on her field. "But I think I only need one.." Alice activated Nekroz Cycle. She sacrificed two random monsters in her hand whose levels added up to six. "I ritual-summon Brionac." And the Brionac dragon knight(6/2300/1400) made his way back to the land of the living.

"I got you now!" Jet wouldn't wait around for Brionac to use its effect again. He flipped his trap card as soon as it appeared. "Trap card, Icarus Attack! By sacrificing one winged beast type monster I can destroy two cards on the field!" Raikiri the Rainshower flew higher than before, straight up into the sun. When he came down again, his wings were set ablaze. "I will destroy your monster and mine!" Brionac and the other Assault Blackwing were the targets, the only two cards on the field. That was fine with Jet though. Chidori the Light Rain would special summon a Blackwing from the graveyard as soon as he was destroyed by that card effect. He would special summon Raikiri back to his field and end this duel with a direct attack. Alice had no cards left except for that ritual monster she added to her hand last turn, and everyone knew those were no threat without spells. "No.. wait!" He was wrong, and he found that out too late.

"If an effect targets my Nekroz monster, I can discard Nekroz of Trishula to negate that effect." Alice used the remnants of Trishula as a shield instead of an armor. Fragments of ice came together to intercept Icarus Attack. "Even that.." Now Jet had nothing left. Raikiri was still tributed for Icarus Attack, Chidori was returned to his extra deck by Brionac. "And now.. a direct attack for you." There was nothing left to do but to fight. Nekroz of Brionac plunged his blade deep into his opponents body. "It's.. over already?" Alice looked at her opponents lifepoint bar. "It happened so fast."

Jets LP: 0

"Wow.. I mean AMAZING! JUST LIKE HER SISTER, ALICE HAS MADE A DAZZLING DEBUT! WITH HER VICTORY, THE ODDBALLS ARE ALREADY THE MOST SUCCESSFUL INDEPENDENT GUILD IN YEARS! And what a deck, right?! The Nekroz are just one of the many new marvels now available!" It looked like Dom got what he wanted at least. Duelists now would think twice about rejecting his new Ritual monster deck. "Maybe you made those cards a bit too strong, sir?" Zach was also astounded by how quickly Alice defeated an already powerful deck like the Blackwings. "Nonsense. We did trial runs, we limited the right pieces. The girl taught herself how to use them properly, that is the impressive part." She had seen the potential before anyone else.

Jet left the stage before Alice could say anything to her. He didn't even regroup with the rest of the guild, he went inside the theater to fume. "Did I.. make him mad?" Alice asked as she came back. "Who cares what he thinks. What're you thinking?" Emily was only concerned about her. Something had to be amiss if Alice was so timid. "Oh. It's just.. I tried to think of something funny, like Uno told me. But I couldn't. And the game was over before I knew it." She had been distracted half the time and too concentrated in the other half. "I'll say. You beat my record. But now that you know what it's like it will be easier next time." This kind of anxiety was exactly what her big sister had been worried about when she started this guild-idea. "I'm not scared or anything. Not like that..it's just..." Alice could not find the right words.

"Oh." Emily's ringtone started to play. "Is it mom?" It was no coincidence that the phone went off at this tim' it had to someone who saw the duel. "It is. She sent a text." But it wasn't the call Alice was hoping for. "She said she heard about us winning and is congratulating us. But she is sorry to say that something serious came up and she can't come today. Maybe tomorrow." When Heather Brandt sent a text message instead of a direct call, the daughters knew it would be bad news. "Aw." For a second Alice had felt a glimmer of joy, now it was gone. "Hey. You won. They know. That is what matters. Maybe we can go to the amusement park later today? I'd say you deserve a little fun." Uno suggested. Alice put up a faint smile. "I would like that.." That could help her shake off this funk she was in.

Not as much as something else though. Someone else, rather. "Leaving so soon?!" Said the duelist who walked by. "Eric!?" Now there was a voice that could make anyone cheerful. Stonewell stood there in the flesh. New snazzy coat, same old Eric. "Eric! You were here!" Alice jumped right at him to catch him with a hug. "Gah! Yeah..I'm happy to see you too!" Eric was used to it. It didn't make it less uncomfortable. "Eric? You came all this way to see us duel?" Emily asked him. "Huh? No. Well.. yes.. but." Eric pried himself loose and took something out from his pockets. It was a brand new deck. "I _also_ came here to duel."

(To be Continued in Annex 030: Lucky Number Six)

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Nekroz of Brionac  
Dance Princess of the Nekroz  
Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz  
Nekroz of Unicore  
Nekroz of Trishula

-  
Nekroz Cycle  
Nekroz Mirror

 **New Cards used by Jet Darrow  
** Blackwing - Pinaki the Waxing Moon  
Blackwing - Gladius the Midnight Sun  
Blackwing - Jin the Rainshadow  
Blackwing - Shura the Blue Flame  
Blackwing - Harmattan the Dust

-  
Assault Blackwing - Raikiri the Rain Shower  
Assault Blackwing - Chidori the Light Rain

-  
Black Whirlwind  
Against the Wind

-  
Icarus Attack


	30. Lucky Number Six

**Annex 030:** **Lucky Number Six**

"You're gonna duel? Why didn't you tell us? What deck are you using? How did you get here? Where's your mom? How did you find us?" Eric did not think his sudden appearance would avoid questions, and there was Alice with a hundred of them. "Eh.. Yes. I didn't want to say anything because I only barely made it in. That's a secret for now. I found a guild that worked for me. She's home because she doesn't like busy places but she is watching me on TV. I saw you walk here and followed you." He also managed to answer them all. "Secrets.. seems like everyone has one these days. Still, I'm glad you made it." Emily said. "Me too. But did you start your own independent guild? You could have joined us. Still can.. maybe." Uno made him an proposal. "Nah. I'd rather not have be called an Oddball. But I hear you showed them who's the man tho, Uno. You too, Alice." He had seen her victory. Allthough one couldn't tell that she had won just by looking at her expression. "Don't look so sad. You kicked ass out there, you should be happy!" Eric just wanted her to smile. He liked that smile. "Ah..yeah.. I did. But what about you?"

"THE NEXT MATCH CAN BEGIN. NEIL GUZMAN FROM THE XYZ-GUILD AND ERIC STONEWELL FROM THE FUSION GUILD!"

The previous duel ended very quickly. It was already time for the next. "There you go. That's my cue!" Eric raised his finger and set his sights on the stage. "Watch closely. This is gonna be good!" He walked towards it with determined steps. The others were left with the revelation. "The Fusion Guild!?"

Eric's LP: 8000 Neils LP: 8000

"Ah. I've waited long enough. Everything built up to this moment." Eric sniffed the air and listened to the shouting coming from the ring. He was overjoyed to finally take his place in the tournament. "What about you, pal? Is this your first rodeo?" His opponent was a rather stocky and short man with the same boring haircut and black uniform as most XYZ-duelists; Neil Guzman. "Tchh. This is not. I will just tell you right now, you don't have a chance against me. I have the experience and the power! My deck is brand-new, nobody can prepare for it!" Neil at least had eagerness going for him. "How fitting; my cards are brand new as well! Let's do this!" The duelists drew their cards. Neil got the first turn. "Even if they are new, a fusion deck will always fall before an XYZ-deck!" Neil placed one monster and one trap card down.

"Hey. I may be from the fusion guild. That does not mean I will be using them.. Where I come from, you didn't need the extra deck to finish a duel." Eric's turn started. "And I guess I will be the first to show off. I cant complain. You see there was a set of new cards that screamed at me to take them. They were demons, they had the fire-attribute, they looked wicked. Their names?" Eric banished one card from his hand. "The Infernoids! As long as the total level of monsters I control is less than 8, I can special summon them by banishing other Infernoids in my hand or graveyard. Though they cannot be summoned in any other way. For this card I only need to banish one Infernoid!" A flash of hellfire broke out, and the infernal fiend was summoned in defense position. It(2/0/2000) had the appearance of a mechanical dragon with half a dozen claws and insectoid wings. Two bright spheres were attached to its back. "This is Infernoid Beelzebul! Or Infernoid Antra if you go by the official name. But this demon is clearly based on the lord of the flies, so that is what I will be calling him!" Eric would not accept downtoning in his vocabulary. "Beelzebul can return one monster to your hand, Neil!" The demon from hell fired beams from its orbs to blast Neils set card off the field. No attacks seemed to be coming afterwards though. "That was it?"

"For now. I'm not ready yet to show you the cool stuff." Eric placed two cards face-down in his spell/trap zone and ended his turn.

"Tcheheheh. You talk big yet start in such a boring fashion? You didn't even damage me! Lame. _This_ is what a New deck should be like." Neil normal summoned a mechanical centipede(3/1500/500) made from microchips. "Digital Bug Centipede!" Next he activated a quickplay spell card. "Crashbug Road! Both players summon a monster from their hand, with the same level as a monster on their field!" Neil placed another computer insect on his field, a machine spider(3/500/1500). "I summon Digital Bug Websolder! And you?" Eric placed nothing on his field. "You can't can you? Must be annoying to have monsters that can only be summoned by their own effects! Not me though! I activate Websolder's power! It changes a monster to defense to summon a level 3 insect from my hand in defense position!" The digital spider webbed up the Centibit to push it into curled up position. "Heh. When Centibit goes to defense, his effect goes off too! It will summon a level 3 insect from my deck in defense position! So from my deck it summons a second Centibit, and from my hand Websolder summons Digital Bug Cocoondenser!" Another chip centipede and a floating cocoon condenser(3/0/2000) appeared.

"That's a lot of bugs." Emily cringed. Mechanical or not, she had no fondness for them. "I overlay all four Digital Bugs!" Neil shouted. The computer bugs crawled on top of each other. "Ah it's getting even worse!" Emily shivered. The things made one big thing. "Xyz-summon; Digital Bug - Scaradiator." A large glowing scarab(3/1800/1400) scuttled unto the stage. It rested on top of a large radiator, in which its four Xyz-materials were captured. "Hah! You think that thing is enough?" Unlike Emily, Eric showed no signs of fright, and he was looking straight at it. "Tch. Of course not. Scaradiator can be summoned with as many level 3 monsters as I can overlay, but its effect requires 2 Xyz materials. I need to save those materials.." The two Centibits were detached from the XYZ-monster. "So it can evolve!" The scarab turned into pure light. "I can XYZ-summon Digital Bug - Corebage from my extra deck by using a Rank 3 to 4 Insect as the base, and by using 2 materials as the fuel! The other materials are attached to my new Xyz-monster!" The light died out and revealed a digital butterfly(5/2200/1800).

"What did he do? Is this something new too?" Alice rubbed her eyes. The beetle had become a whole new insect. "He performed a Rank-up. It is the ultimate technique of a XYZ-duelist." Cassius began to explain. "In certain conditions, a duelist can evolve his Xyz-monster to a higher rank. These Digital Bugs can do this by themselves apparently. There are other older ways.."

"Corebage is more suited to you. It can return your monster to your deck by using just one Xyz-material!" Digital Bug Scaradiator was detached and absorbed into the cores on Corebage's wings. With a beat of its wings, Erics monster was dismissed. "Was that it?" Eric was not that worried. He had seen worse. "Smile while you can. Because I can rank-up more than once!" Neil moved to his second main phase. The last two monsters were detached from his Xyz-monster. "Rank-up!" Corebage transformed into a ball of light, just like Scaradiator before him. "Digital Bug Rhinocebus!" It went from the 5th rank to the 7th, as it became a very large rhinoceros beetle(7/2600/2200). "And I activate the field spell Bug Matrix! All Insects gain 300 attack and defense points!" A computers motherboard was set down on all zones. The energy from thet board gave the Rhinocebus(2900/2500) more power. "Tcheheh. Attack!" Rhinocebus fired a stream of electricity from its horntip and blasted Eric with it. "End.."

Eric's LP: 5100

"Hold up. I got a trap." Eric flipped his trap card, Needlebug Nest, before Neil ended his turn. "Just don't take the next card I activate as any sign of approval, Neil. I like creepy bugs as much as the next guy. But if I wanted to look at them, I can already do that in real life." The trap took away the top five cards from the players deck, a move Neil did not see the point of. "Hmph." Eric discarded 2 monster cards, 2 spells and 1 trap. "Okay, now I'll start my turn. I Draw!" Then Eric ran into a bit of luck, as he drew Infernoid Antra all over again. "Tchaha! You fool! Rhinocebus can destroy the monster with the most defense points, and he can do that during your turn too. You think I will let you use any monsters against me?" Neil could see the hope in Erics face and he wanted to squash it. "Yeah I know. I can read. That is why I need a liiiiittle bit more." Eric activated a spell card.

"Reasoning! I am going to pick up cards from my deck until I draw a monster that can be summoned! But you have to guess what level it will be first, Neil." If Neil guessed the proper level, the drawn monster would be discarded. If not, it would be summoned. "What? Tcheh, four then." He picked the most common level. Yet he could not help but think something was off about Erics choice of spell. "Alright!" Eric picked up the first card. It was a monster already; a level 8 Infernoid. "Wait! You stated that Infernoids cannot be summoned by other card effects!" Neil protested. Reasoning would not work on that card. "I know." Reasoning discarded the Infernoid instead. "Isn't this fun?" And Eric discarded five more cards, two of them Infernoids, until he got his hands on a non-Infernoid monster. In the end it still was not a level 4 monster. "Level 3! Fiendish Rhino Warrior!" Since Neil had guessed wrong, Eric could special summon a rhino demon warrior(3/1400/900). "It's Rhino against Rhino. Mine has an effect that protects other demons from destruction!" Neils Digital XYZ-Bug couldn't harm his Infernoids. "You can go ahead and destroy the Rhino, but you will lose your XYZ-monster either way.

"Rgh." Neil followed through. He detached Rhinocebus' last material and blew up Fiendish Rhino Warrior. "There you go. But when Fiendish Rhino Warrior is sent to the graveyard, I can send another demon from my deck to my grave." Uno discarded a certain Infernoid, Infernoid Attondel. "You're probably thinking, oh Antra is not that bad? Well he isn't by himself." Eric banished an Infernoid from the graveyard this time to summon the demon lord of flies(2/0/2000). Strangely enough Eric used Antra's effect to push Bug Matrix of the field, lowering the power charge on Rhinocebus(2600/2200). "But this one." Uno took three more of the discarded Infernoids. Two were banished and one was summoned. "From the grave?" Much to Neils horror. "Good reaction. Yeah, highlevel Infernoids can summon themselves from the grave too, as long as the total level and rank of all my monsters is lower than 8. Adramelech, or Infernoid Attondel, needs to banish two Infernoids." The next demon from hell was more dragonic in shape, Attondel(8/2800/0) unleashed a bloodchurning howl as flames burst out of its armored body.

"I guess you wanna know what Adramelech can do? Well.." The Infernoid gathered hellfire to prepare for the battle phase. Though Eric placed a monster face-down first. He had not normal summoned yet this turn. "When he destroys a monster, he gets to attack again!" The first flame blast destroyed the digital beetle, making sparks fly everywhere. "You used Antra on my field instead of my XYZ-monster, just for a little more damage? You'll wish you hadn't!" Neil would not humor him either. "Trap card: Bug Emergency! I can special summon two insects from my graveyard with their effects negated!" Neils trap targeted the Digital Bugs Cocoondenser and Centibit. They would defend him as soon as they were revived. "Neat. Know what my cards can do? My Infernoids sacrifice a monster to banish a card in your graveyard. Adramelech can do this either turn!" Infernoid Attondel sacrificed Eric's set monster to banish Digital Bug Cocoondenser before it could be special summoned. "Gah!" Since Bug Emergency targeted two monsters at the same time, its effect fizzled when one of them disappeared. "Looks like your emergency call, didn't get through." Eric snickered. "Anyway.. Direct attack!" Attondel tossed the second infernal blast towards Neil. "That was my turn!"

Neils LP: 5000

"My Digital Bugs will lose to your Infernoids? Unacceptable! I refuse to lose to a fusion-guilder, even if he does not use fusions!" Neil drew his next card and he normal summoned it. A blue steel worm(3/1200/1000) appeared. "Galaxy Worm! This insect monster can special summon another level 3 Galaxy monster from my deck if I control no other monsters!"The eyes of the worm lit up, as it released its energy. A second Galaxy worm(3/1200/1000) was created by special summoning it from the main deck. "Then I will activate Bug Emergency from my graveyard to raise the levels of all my level 3 insects, to the level of a XYZ-monster's rank in the graveyard!" Since Neil could not gather enough materials to rank-up towards Rhinocebus again, he would take a more direct approach. If he had been allowed to. "Hey, Neil? Your monsters arent the only ones who can use their effects during an enemy's turn." Eric reactivated Attondels effect. It sacrificed itself this time to banish the Bug Emergency trap card from Neils graveyard. "Tchrhr.. You.."

"Then a rank 3 Xyz-monster will make do!" Angered, Neil overlayed his two Galaxy Worms to Xyz-summon a second Digital Bug Scaradiator(3/1800/1400). He also reset his Bug Matrix field spell to give some power back to the Bug(2100/1700). "Scaradiator can switch the position of one monster on the field and negate his effects!" The scarab absorbed the two attached Galaxy insects, sending them to the grave. Then it zapped Infernoid Antra with a static bolt. "Not going to happen!" Eric flipped his set quickplay spell card. "I activate Void Seer to cancel out your effect on my Infernoid!" Antra was bathed in a golden light. Void seer's power made the Infernoid immune to Scaradiator. "I don't care if I can't damage you! Antra cannot revive itself either way!" Scaradiator rolled towards the hellish demon on his radiator wheel and ran it over. "Heh. Still got a lot of mileage out of this thing you called lame, Neil." Eric did not mind what he said anymore. He knew Neil was out of cards, out of boasts, out of pretty much anything.

Eric's LP: 2900

"Of course, thanks to you I now have two dead Infernoids. I am getting my Adramalech back, if you don't mind!" Eric banished Antra and the third Infernoid in his graveyard, just to revive Infernoid Attondel a second time. "And I do not want you to you get your hopes up!" Swiftly, Eric normal summoned a horned crimson demon, who had the lower body of a serpent and the wings of a bat. "Gren Maju Da Eiza! Do you have any idea what this guy is about? He gives himself 400 attack and defense points for each of my banished cards!" All told, Eric had banished six Infernoids this duel. Their exiled spirits were drawn into the body of Eiza(2400/2400). "And that..means I win.." Eric flinched. "I win?" He heard himself say what sounded so unreal. "I.. WIN, Neil!" He gave the command, Infernoid Attondel attacked and destroyed Scaradiator. Attondel then used his second attack, along with Eiza's attack to strike the bugless duelist and cut through his lifepoints. "Yes. Yes! YES!" It had finally happened. He snatched victory away from his opponents!

Neils LP: 0

"You won? With Gren Maju da Eiza?" Naturally Neil did not share his glee. "This was a bad match-up, but to lose to some outdated card like that." This defeat would not reflect well on his ranking. "Can't you just say you under-estimated me and the cards I was using? Besides. I've been dueling for a long while too. Maybe not in a guild, but I had experience. I bet all you XYZ-types do is just get your decks assorted for you anyway." Eric hardly saw Neil use anything atypical. "Nobody told me to add Gren Maju or Reasoning or Fiendish Rhino Warrior. Those were all my ideas and they payed off in spades." When it came down to it, Eric just couldn't feel completely satisfied unless he heard his opponent crediting him. "Tch. You win this round then. But I doubt your chances for later rounds." That was a much as Neil would give him. "Good enough."

Now Dom was doing his job of sending cheers everywhere. However there was only one group of people whose reactions Eric wanted to see. "So you all saw that, right?" He walked straight back to his friends to pick up from where he had left off. "If we'd gone blind, we'd still hear it." Uno said. Like with most winners today, the watching mob shouted out Erics name as it were some chant of war. "Oh. Oh yeah that's nice. Man this is even better than I thought it would be. And you said I couldn't make it." He scoffed. "We never said that. I didn't. I think." Alice defended herself as well her memory allowed. "Yeah well anyone who did looks silly now." Eric wouldn't call names. As far as he was concerned, nothing could ruin this day. Nothing but harmless queries. "So why the Fusion guild?" Like the one Emily posed. "Huh?"

"Good question. Last time I saw you, you were all depressed about not making it into a guild and going back home." Akai joined in on the questioning. She would know, she had been his driver home. "How did you do it? It can't have been as easy as it would have been if you let Aaron help you." Emily did not let it go, she was still a bit bitter about him having rejected Cassius as well. "I used the easiest option. It just took me a day for myself to get over feeling sorry for myself and trying it again, and the fusion guild had a sponsored location close by. That's all." His story had nothing wrong with it. "..." Still Emily found it suspicious that Eric had such a turn-around. "Emily. It's like I said before, I'm perfectly okay with this." It took Cassius' own words to get her to back off. "If you say so. We'll see what happens."

"We're already in different guilds anyway. What's important is that you're pleased with your choice." Uno sighed. He would have liked to have been the one who helped him get here. Nevertheless there was an upside. This proved that the guilds could not keep them apart. "Oh I am happy. Very happy. And so is my guild.. The fun has just begun."

(To be Continued in Annex 031: Stuffed with Personality)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Infernoid Antra  
Fiendish Rhino Warrior  
Infernoid Attondel  
Gren Maju da Eiza

-  
Reasoning  
Void Seer

-  
Needlebug Nest

 **Cards used by Neil Guzman  
** Digital Bug - Centibit  
Digital Bug - Cocoondenser  
Digital Bug - Websolder  
Galaxy Worm

-  
Digital Bug - Scaradiator  
Digital Bug - Corebage  
Digital Bug - Rhinocebus

-  
Crashbug Road  
Bug Matrix

-  
Bug Emergency


	31. Stuffed with Personality

**Annex 031:** **Stuffed with Personality**

"IS IT A BIRD, IS IT A PLANE? NO, IT IS ZACHARY CREFFIELD! THE SECOND DISCIPLE MAKES HIS ENTRANCE! GIVE HIM A WARM WELCOME EVERYONE!"

"Oh. Zach?" The time had come. A duelist walked down the stairs coming from Doms skybox. "Had to happen sooner or later. I guess he'll use another one of Doms new pendulum decks." There was no telling what it would be, but Uno needed to see it if he was to prepare. "Tough luck for whoever he is up against though. Even Dom is not keeping quiet on who he wants to win." Emily said. Not that she would mind if Zach won. He was the more agreeable of the two disciples. "Uhhh.. Who _is_ he up against?" Alice saw only one face on the big screen, Zachs. His opponents face was scrambled. "Is the screen glitched?" There was only a name; Dame Phoebe. "Oh no." That name only meant something to Eric. "You know her?" The rest had no idea why Eric seemed to nervous all of the sudden. "Dame Phoebe is a duelist in my guild. She's like a fusion Cassius." He put it in his own way. The actual Cassius found this strange. "Two high ranking duelists are facing each other in round one?" Seeding should have prevented such a match-up, regardless of bracket randomization. "No. Dame Phoebe is not high ranked, she is just.. in charge."

"There she is!" Alice yelled as one person walked out of the fusion guild section of the stadium. "And there she.. is?" Then another person appeared and walked in her footsteps. "Which one is Phoebe?" Something odd was going on here. The close-up on the big screen revealed their appearances as two girls. One had long smooth blond hair, wore a blue princess dress and white gloves. The other had dyed blue hair, a gothic black dress and a red bowtie. "Are they twins? Is he supposed to duel two people at once?" Their faces were identical, aside from the stitches one had underneath her blue eyes. "Not quite." Eric could not really say what the deal was, because it was..slightly unusual. "Hello and Hello!" The two said their first words. "It's them!" Uno remembered those voices; one deep and one high. They were the two from the casino.

"Hmm?" Zach raised an eyebrow. He was also curious where this was going. As soon as the two stood in front of Zach, they grabbed each others hands. "!" A blinding whirlpool of light was released from their dueldisks. Once that faded, only one girl was left.

"What!? They fused?!" Alice shouted. The one Phoebe that remained looked like a perfect fusion; an asymmetrical person. Her new dress was the old blue and black dress stitched together. Her blond hair was dyed blue on the left side, there was less make-upon the left. "No.. they were holograms?" Uno figured it out. The two Phoebes were never the real one. The real Phoebe just hid herself in one hologram. "Why.. why did she do all that?" The kind of effort Phoebe took to make an entrance boggled Emily's mind. "The guild did say they were saving her first public appearance for something special." Cassius had to admit that this made a memorable first impression. "I get it. Some people live for their act." Uno was very interested in where this duel could go now. Perhaps Zach would not have it so easy after all.

Phoebe's LP: 8000 Zach's LP: 8000

"Dame Phoebe I presume?" Zach was a little perturbed but he recovered quickly enough to extend his greetings. "Just Dame will suffice." Phoebe said as she held her ungloved hand in front of her right eye. "Enchantee, mister Creffield. I pray you will be gentle." She was only using her softer voice now, childish yet graceful in tone. "But of course, that is how I am. I would offer you the first turn freely, if the machine had not given it to you already." The dueldisks decided that Zach would take the second turn. "Fantastique. I do so hope the crowd is in the mood for something cute." Phoebe gently drew her cards as to not damage them or to get dust on them. "Come on out, Fluffal Dog." She normal summoned her monster, a fluffy dog(4/1700/1000) with wings on its back. "Oh! I summoned him from my hand, so his effect will activate. I can add 1 Fluffal from our deck to my hand. What should I choose?" She zoned out for a second or two and giggled. "No, silly. We can't add another Fluffal Dog... I know! Fluffal Bear!" The Dog's effect searched a different Fluffal and gave it to his master. "Now. I set this trap of mine and end the turn."

"Our deck?" Zach did not want to say anything. It was not in his nature to question other people's habits. Yet this act of hers confused him. "If you are trying to throw me off my game, you are doing a commendable job at it." Zach drew his card. He then summoned the masked Melodious Diva Canon(4/1400/2000). "Whether you have a trap waiting, or not. I shall make my move as I normally would!" Zach started the battle phase, Canon started singing her melody. "While I am attacking, I discard Score the Melodious Diva from my hand! Sing with her, my Diva!" Score, a yellow-skinned fairy with blue hair and a white dress, came in to back up Canon. "Sounds good." The speakers amplified the music splendidly. In the background Dom could be heard shouting as he explained Score's. This Diva effect reduced an opponents monsters attack to zero, when a Melodious monster did battle. The Fluffal Dog(4/0/1000) was depowered by Score and its stuffed body splattered across the stage by Canon.

Phoebe's LP: 6600

"So he is not using Pendulums? What, did only Iria get them?" Emily did not expect this. Someone like Dom could easily make two whole new Pendulum archetypes if he wanted to. "Maybe he liked his old deck more?" Alice would understand that kind of sentiment. "I hope he can still win with them."

"Oh no! Poor Fluffal Dog." Phoebe took the hit to her life hard, but the loss of her card harder. "How cruel. I let this happen to you. I have to make things right, right now!" She snapped her fingers and activated her set card. "Trap card; Fluffal Crane. A destroyed Fluffal is added back to my hand and I can draw a card as well." Fluffal Dog's card was pulled out of the grave by a crane. Since she drew a card as well, her hand had recovered as much as her field had lost. "Clever." Zach was sure she had wanted the attack to go down this way. "I activate your effect, Canon the Melodious Diva! Switch yourself to defense position!" Canons power allowed her to change positions even after she had attacked. Knowing what he knew about the Fluffal archetype, Zach figured it would be for the best to bunker down. "That was my turn, Dame Phoebe."

"And a nice turn it was, mister Creffield. A nice song as well, I feel like I am at the opera. It is also thanks to you that I get to see my cute Fluffals in real life." Phoebe activated the effect of a monster in her hand. "Now you go, Fluffal Bear. You tribute yourself to grab me the Toy Vendor." Fluffal Bear was discarded and a spell card was set on the field with his effect. "See, we need new toys." Phoebe flipped her spell card face-up; Toy Vendor. It was a dispensing machine filled with capsuled toys. "I can exchange what I have for something new. Though they have to be Fluffals or else it wont work." Toy Vendor discarded a random card from her hand, while she drew a new card with her other hand. "Ooh, another Bear." The card she drew was Fluffal Bear. Toy Vendor could now special summon the fairy-winged pink Bear(3/1200/800) to the field. "Hmm, guess I will use him along with Fluffal Dog." The girl resummoned the dog toy. Its effect was activated once more..

But it was not her right hand that pulled a card from the deck. "Aren't you forgetting someone?" Phoebe's voice cracked and changed to a lower pitch. "Toy Vendor and Fluffal Dog can search something else besides Fluffals. They can get Edge Imp Sabres too!" In the middle of the duel, Phoebe flipped the dueldisk from her left wrist to her right. The disk model seemed specifically designed to allow this quick maneuver. "What are you doing, miss Phoebe?" Zach's opponent seemed to be ambidextrous and ambivalent of mind. "Just taking over. Hi, I 'm Phoebe!" Phoebe smirked wryly as her left hand claimed the Edge Imp Sabres card with Fluffal Dog's effect. "Wanna see something terrifying?" She activated Polymerization. "I fuse Fluffal Bear with Edge-Imp Sabres and fusion summon Frightfur Bear!"

The fusing spell combined the cute bear with the horrifying scissor demon in her hand. The holograms made it look less like a normal fusion, and more like Fluffal Bear was torn up from the inside out. Scissors protruded from his belly and arms and its head split open to reveal two sets of sharp teeth and glowing red eyes inside the dark gaping mouth. "Pray there weren't any kids watching on TV, heheh." She cackled like a witch as she entered her battle phase. "Eat her whole my bear!" Frightfur Bear(6/2200/1800) used his new claws to grab Melodious Diva Canon and just tossed her into his own mouth. "Heheh, Frightfur Bear grows from what it devours like a venus flytrap!" The destroyed Canon was equipped to the Bear. A thousand attackpoints were added to the toy of death(3200/1800) for each meal. "So you have thrown fusion into the mix? Dare I say your true self has come out?" Zach would just have to play along. He was sure Dom would approve of a little showmanship. "True self? What a ridiculous idea! We're both true! Me and the Dame." The girl was done with her turn.

 _"She did not attack with Fluffal Dog? Because it's a monster that Dame summoned?"_ Even Uno started to think Dame Phoebe was taking this performance a bit too far.

Zach drew again. " ...Perhaps. Since you have taken the next step, I have to follow your lead! Polymerization!" Zach activated his own fusion spell to combine Mozarta the Melodious Maestra and Elegy the Melodious Diva in his hand. "I fusion summon Bloomdiva the Melodious Choir!" Fusing the Maestra with another Melodious allowed him to recreate the invincible flower fairy(6/1000/2000). "This will be a clash of fusion monsters!" Bloomdiva attacked. Her song unleashed powerful waves upon Frightfur Bear. "I take no damage from her battles, and she cannot be destroyed. Also, since she is battling a special summoned monster, she will cause you damage equal to the difference between her attack and your Bears original ATK. And your monster will be destroyed!" Try as it might, Frightfur Bear could not fight back. It was overwhelmed by the sound and dismantled into blades and tufts.

Phoebe's LP: 5400

Once Zach placed his trap card down, he gave the turn back to his opponent. "Ha. Wonder what it will be." Phoebe roughly drew the next card on top of her deck. She glared at it..and her lecherous expression transformed into a sweet smile at the flip of a card. "Ta-da!" That card was Defusion, she showed it to Zach. "Oh that's not good." Zach knew Defusions effect, everyone did. The name said it all. "Goodbye Bloomdiva. You could sadly not stay with us for long." Dame played Defusion on Melodious Choir. Zach's fused fairy separated and dissolved into nothing. "Oh yeah. Defusion split a monster into its fusion materials, but only if those materials are in the graveyard of the guy who activated Defusion." Eric mumbled. Defusion was a handy tool for fusion duelists, but even more devastating against other fusion duelists.

"Oh we are enjoying ourselves, aren't we? Let's get more toys in!" Dame clapped her hands and reactivated Toy Vendor. She discarded a second Toy Vendor spell from her hand and drew a Fluffal Leo monster from her deck. "Prima! I got a double bonus! A Toy Vendor that is sent to the graveyard fetches a Fluffal or Edge Imp Sabres from the deck." Because of the discarded Toy Vendor, Phoebe could add a second Fluffal Leo from her deck to her hand. The first lion toy(4/1600/1200) was special summoned by the Vendor machine. The second(4/1600/1200) was normal summoned. "Frightfur Bear had his say. Now the Fluffals are here to stay. Fluffal Leo, you will attack first since you get more 500 attackpoints during my battle phase." The first Lion flew towards Zach and delivered a soft yet damaging blow with his(2100/1200) stuffed paw.

Zach's LP: 5900

"Thank you for that, Dame Phoebe!" Zach retaliated with his trap card. "I can activate Damage Gate now! I special summon a monster from my graveyard if she does not have more attackpoints than the damage I took!" He resummoned Aria the Melodious Diva(4/1600/1200) in defense mode. "A special summoned Aria cannot be destroyed as a result of battle!" He would be safe from further attacks now. "Oh. What a pity. My other toys merely wanted to share their love." Dame placed one trap card of her own face-down and ended her turn. "I am afraid an enemy is an enemy, no matter how cute or beautiful." Zach drew his next card. "But since Bloomdiva failed. I will hire a different conductor. I summon Soprano the Melodious Songstress!" His next Diva was a fairy(4/1400/1400) with long red hair. She wore an armored dress and her eyes were covered by a golden visor. "Soprano allows me to fuse monsters I control to summon a melodious fusion monster. I fusion summon Schuberta the Melodious Maestra by using 2 Melodious monsters as the materials!"

The Songstress merged her own essence with Aria. Together they created the Maestra(6/2400/2000) in her voluminous red and brown dress. Wavy red hair flowed down her back and a golden butterfly mask rested on her face. "Schuberta can banish 3 cards in any graveyard. If she does, she'll gains 200 attackpoints for each banished card. I will target Polymerization, Edge Imp Sabres and Fluffal Bear!" Zach was no fool. He knew Edge Imp Sabres had a selfrevival effect built-in. And fusion duelists always had a way to recover their fusion spells and fusion materials, so he would get rid of it all at once. "Nice try, Creffield." Dame, or rather Phoebe, was one step ahead unfortunately. Her trap activated and resolved first. "Fusion Reserve. I show you a fusion monster in my extra Deck. Then 1 of its materials from our deck and 1 Polymerization from our graveyard will fall in my hand!" The girl switched dueldisk positions again as she took revealed a second Frightfur Bear. Thanks to Fusion Reserve, she regained Polymerization and could claim Edge Imp Sabres. "That's a shame." Schuberta(2800/2000) only banished two cards now. "..I attack a Fluffal Leo." Schuberta could destroy 1 Fluffal, but not all. "I set a trap card and end my turn."

Phoebe's LP: 4200

"Hhehehheheh, now _there_ is someone I can sink my teeth into! Time for another toy of death!" The darker Phoebe was clearly in control, as she tore her next card from her deck. "And what big teeth we will have.. Polymerization!" She used her spell on every monster in her possession. The Edge Imp Sabres in her hand polymerized with Fluffal Leo and Fluffal Dog on the field. "By fusing Sabres with any number of Fluffals, we can make Frightfur Wolf!" The dog formed the main body of this new creature, its fur turned dark blue and its(6/2000/1500) shape became wolflike. The head and stomach split open, just like with Frightfur Bear, to reveal scissor blades and red eyes in the dark. The fact that the Wolf was weaker than the Maestra drew a lot of chatter from the audience. "Oh? Not scared yet? You should be." Phoebe had a card left to play, an equip spell card that could only be equipped to level 6 or lower fusion monsters. "Fusion Weapon!" The Frightfur's left claw mutated into a veiny red cannon. Fusion Weapon added 1500 attackpoints to the Wolf(3500/1500). "Rip! Stab! Tear!" With his new weapon the Frightfur beast battled Schuberta, and devoured her. His teeth left nothing of the Melodious conductor, not even a the baton.

Zach's LP: 5200

"This is it." Sweat rolled down Zach's forehead. He had been aware of his fate since she first played that spell card. "Yeah. How does it feel? Are you scared? Good! Savor that feeling!" Frightfur Wolf suddenly came in for a second attack. It swiped at Zach with his scissors.

Zach's LP: 1700

"What? Why did she get another attack?" Emily did not follow what was going on because even the host stopped explaining card effects over the speaker. Dom seemed just as shocked. "Frightfur Wolf gets to attack once for each monster fused into it." Uno had to deliver the exposition and the bad news. Since three monsters had been used as materials, Frightfur Wolf still had an attack left. "Now this is the end. Did you think it would come this soon, poor thing?" Dame Phoebe briefly reverted to her sweeter tone of voice, seemingly just to mock Zach. "Everyone loses some time! Everyone! Even Doms pretty boy!" Finally Frightfur Wolf made its third attack. The demonic beast toy slashed right through the disciple's body. "Guh.."

Zach's LP: 0

There was no turmoil of cheers or jeers coming from around. There were no blessings or cries given by Dom. It was unlikely that he'd seen this coming. "He lost? But he wanted to duel you." And Alice raised a good point. There was one less disciple for Uno to fight now. "I don't know. I.." Uno did not really get the time to ponder the ramifications. His mind was distracted. "Is she..looking this way?" It was distracted by the fact that Dame Phoebe was staring at him from the corner of her left eye. "She is coming towards us!" Eric panicked as the asymmetrical girl turned towards them. She had no words left for Zach. "Hey, Stonewell, did I say you could mingle with the other guilds?" 'Phoebe' addressed Eric first. "Ah! No ma'am. I was just about to leave!" He apologized profusely and was about to make a hasty retreat. But then her face relaxed into a big grin. "She was just joking, Eric. You can be with whomever you want." 'Dame' giggled. She did not make Eric any less tense.

"I mean who could resist such wonderful friends? I would murder to get a chance to hang around with you, Cassius." Phoebe divided her attention to the others. "I am honored." Cassius was wishing she hadn't. Though he was not what interested her the most. "Hello and Hello, Uno." It was the duelist who had rejected her guild. "You should have joined us. You are like us, two-faced. I saw your other face when you dueled Meridian." She licked her finger. "I look forward to seeing more of that Uno."

(To be Continued in Annex 032: It's all Fun and Games)

 **New Cards used by Zach Creffield  
** Score the Melodious Diva  
Soprano the Melodious Songstress

-  
Schuberta the Melodious Maestra

-  
Polymerization

-  
Damage Gate

 **Cards used by Dame Phoebe  
** Fluffal Dog  
Edge Imp Sabres  
Fluffal Bear  
Fluffal Leo

-  
Frightfur Bear  
Frightfur Wolf

-  
Toy Vendor  
Polymerization  
Fusion Weapon

-  
Fluffal Crane  
Fusion Reserve


	32. Its All Fun and Games

**Annex 032: It's All Fun and Games**

No-one expected to see the previous duel end the way it did. Many had come to see Zach, the dueling face of Dreamworld. Now they were only talking about Dame Phoebe. The star of the Fusion Guild had made her impact. Her opponent retreated to the master area, with nothing to show for himself. The brave face Zach put up for everyone he saw along the way, would be all but impossible to keep once he was inside. "Once again your confidence was your undoing." Iria Silver waited for him there with her lecture already prepared. "It was a fair loss, Silver." He tried to stand up for himself. As usual it did little in the way of convincing Iria. "It is not about that. It is not about your opponent being chosen at random. It is about you rejecting the Masters gift." She held up her own deck. "You should have accepted his cards, or even let him make Pendulums for your 'Melodious' monsters." With power like that, he wouldn't have lost so shamefully. "That was my choice, Silver. I do not duel to pound my opponents into the dirt." Even now Zach did not regret his choice. That ticked her off only further. "Listen to yourself. You are talking about a game! It does not make a difference how you win, as long as you win. Your loss has set back Master Dom and..."

"Change of plans!" Doms voice cut her off as he raised his pointing finger in the air. "Sir?" Dom took a quick break from hosting."Zachary, your defeat was unfortunate. But don't let that get to you. I appreciate a duelist who is satisfied with any product, old or new. This setback just means we gotta speed up certain matters." He pointed at Silver next. "Iria. I take it you have no objections to me fixing your placement for the next round?" She took no time for consideration. "Of course, sir." If that was what he wanted. "Much appreciated." Dom was slightly disappointed that he would have to cut his plans down in size, but he could not risk losing her either. "Dom? Is there anything I can do?" Zach meanwhile just did not want to be left out of the loop. "Good of you to ask. Yes, you can do me a favor as well. Since Iria will be busy, and you presumably want to redeem yourself, you can take over her Fusion guild-case."

Back outside the duels continued despite the brief pause in Doms commentary. Cassius was finally called to the stage to face an independent duelist. During that time Uno thought about Dame Phoebe. The two-faced girl had excused herself as soon as the next duel got announced, so he never got the chance to ask her what she knew.. if she knew anything at all. "Hey, Uno. If you're stuck about what that girl said to you, you should probably stop." To Emily and the others it was pretty hard to overlook Uno's state. "I wouldn't call that lady a reliable character judge. But Maybe you know her better than me, Eric." She was betting Phoebe knew as much about Uno as Uno knew about her. "Well, that was the first time I saw her too. They said I was too new to the guild to deal with anyone besides low-ranked members." Eric confessed. "I'd rather not talk behind her back."

"But she is right, if you think about it. I don't know who I really am. What if I was someone completely different before I lost my memories?" Uno was not who he used to be. Uno was not even his true name. "Yeah, you could have been a huge bastard." Eric suggested. "Eric!" A bit too haphazardly, found Alice. "Hey. I am just saying it's possible. I mean that is not who he is now, is it?" Eric did not mean anything, it just tended to come out that way. "That.. is true. Even if I get back what I lost, I will still have my experiences with all of you. I am sure there are smarter men out there who would say that the past makes someone who they are in the present. I can either keep my past short or make it longer." Uno had wondered if he could not just let it go, if he could live just as he was now. Not knowing who he would become was a terrifying feeling. _"No.."_ He owed it to someone to get back his memories; to himself or to people he had forgotten about or to the pendulum that was wrapped around his neck. _"Like she said.. both sides are real. I just need to find the other one."_

"Oh hey, he won. Can't say I am surprised." Akai broke up their chat to anounce the fact that Cassius had finished his duel. "That didn't take him long." Uno's talking could not have taken up more than a few minutes. "Cassius likes to set speed records, and then break them." Akai claimed. As they had seen before, Synchro duelists were generally fans of for rapid swarming tactics. "What's up?" Getting back to his seat took Cassius only a few seconds as well. He was not even out of breath. "Nice duel, Cassius. I think. We kinda missed the finishing blow there. Sorry, we blinked." Emily had to be honest. She didn't say what they were talking about that made them distracted though. "Oh it was nothing special; a quick Shock Surprise, Limiter Removal and HiSpeedroid Chanbara combo makes quick work of anyone. I feel sorry for the guy. He was the only one who made it in from his small guild, and now they are all knocked out. I am glad you stayed to watch part of it anyway." Cassius looked at the board. The day had a handful of duels left. "Hmm. I want to see how these last few duels end for my guild. But if you guys want to see the sights now. I wont stop you."

"See the sights?" Alice heard the magic word. "Can we go to the park? Can we? Can we? Can we?" She begged Emily while she pulled on her sisters arm. "Yeah sure, why not." This was a battle Emily had already lost.

And the amusement park had many sights at that. The amphitheater stood at the center of everything and one couldn't see the exit even if you stood at the very top of the ring. "We should start with the duel monster Forest! Then we can visit this the Legendary Ocean and the Call of Haunted House." The place had every attraction; from a fairyland-like resort with statues of famous monster cards to rides that took players through various well known field spells and made them experience it first-hand. Alice had to see it all, pun after pun. "No man, that's kids stuff. Besides we don't have all day. We should go on the Blue-Eyes White Rocket!" Eric however had his eyes on a bigger prize; a superspeed rollercoaster that coursed through the park. The carts themselves were shaped like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. "Oh! That's a good idea!" Alice was all in for that too. "You go ahead. Just keep an eye on the time." Emily on the other hand did not have the stomach for rollercoasters. She found that out last time the family went to a theme park. Now if there were bumpercars anywhere, she'd be all over that.

"Okay!" Alice hurried towards the entrance. There were no lines, which made it even better. "Eric?" Still, Eric froze in place. "What is it?" The others caught the blinking light on the underside of his dueldisk. They had never seen a disk do that before. "I.. have to go somewhere." He sighed. "You do? But we were about to.." Alice was disappointed. She hadn't spent time with Eric for such a long time and he was leaving already. "Is it your guild? Are they bossing you around?" Uno wanted to be sure there was not something unpleasant going on in there. "It is something to do with the Fusion guild yeah. I really can't say more. Ugh, this sucks too. That ride looked sweet." Eric clearly didn't want to go. He still pried himself away from the awesomeness that lied ahead. "I'll see you again tomorrow. Bye!"

"I guess there are some things duelists from different guilds just cannot do together." Emily was slightly irked. It was not like she would take secrets to Aaron. "I still don't want to go alone.. Uno, can you go with me?" Alice looked at him with her big eyes. "How can I say no?" Uno needed some relaxation he felt. This hyperfast ride would do just the trick.

An hour or so passed while the three enjoyed what they could. By that time people started pouring out of the theater, including Cassius. He encountered the gang at one of the giftshops. "Hey! How did it go?" Emily inquired about the duels they missed. "All told, not too well. Percy, Gwen and Lionel all lost their duels. We only have six members left in the game now." More than half of the Synchro Guild had been wiped out in round one. "Oh no! Did the XYZ-guild win that much?" Alice assumed they had the best win/loss ratio, going by what she had seen already. "Yeah. Eleven XYZ-duelists are still competing. The Fusion guild kept nine of their members as well. We did as well as the independents. Besides you and Iria, only three people made it through." The free duelists were usually the first to go. "That Kyle character we saw at the Casino was there too. He won. He seemed to be all by himself too." It was rare to see an independent guild with just one member in it. "Kyle? Nice for him." Compared to what else Uno had heard, that was good news. "So what is going to happen tomorrow? Same thing as today?"

"Hard to tell with Dom. What he did today was more out of necessity." With only half as many duels, the tournament could afford a slower pace tomorrow. Cassius could not imagine the Master of dreamworld sticking with the usual tournament routine. "He did say he would announce his plans in morning at 9'o clock. So a starting time of 10 might be what we.. get." Cassius stopped talking. He was distracted by a group of duelists marching away from the theater. "Adamant.." The XYZ-guild runner and his militaristic entourage were making their way back to wherever they stayed for the night. Each guild had their own hotel booked. Doms park had a boatload of them. The XYZ-guild seemed to be holding up outside the park though. "I should head back." Cassius had his own room to get to. "Are you sure you don't want to stay? Have a little fun here?" Alice thought they could get a few more rides in before dinnertime at the restaurant. "I could. But why would I need a rollercoaster.." Cassius took out his helmet. "When I can just cruise at max speed on the roads." Cassius chuckled as he got on his bike which he had parked nearby. "See you in round two, Oddball guild." He waved at them as he sped off.

"I can't wait til I can drive one of those too." Alice said as Cassius literally rode off into the sunset. "I can. So can you." Emily retorted flatly.

...

Uno had no complaints about the rest of the day. The food at the restaurant was great, better than anything he could remember eating in the past. His room, now that he could actually scope it out, was wonderful too. There was a mini-fridge, a TV with hundreds of channels, room service. He heard about most of this second-hand, as Alice had a mind to try them out. "Who is gonna pay for all of this?" Was the sensible question brought up by Emily. "Dom I guess." Uno saw no pricetags anywhere. "Just how much money does he have to burn?" Sure Dom was the boss of Dreamworlds, but his business needed money to make more money. Between the jetpacks and the creation of an entire theme park, Dom did not seem all that interested in his actual work. _"Maybe he is trying to get my trust while I am getting his. Well its working."_ The soft bed he lied on was another way to get someone in your friendship corner. _"Nothing from you today, eh..."_ Eventually Uno could take out his pendulum and hold it up against the moons light. _"Maybe you will have some more memories for me tomorrow.."_

...

"GOOD MORNING, DUELISTS!" Monday, right as the clock handle hit nine, Doms featureless face appeared on every public screen in the area. "I HOPE YOU ALL SLEPT WELL. Or I just woke you up rudely. EITHER WAY, IT IS TIME TO REVEAL THE GAMEPLAN FOR THE SECOND ROUND.. The quarter-quarter finals for those with a mathematical inclination! It's gonna be simple. We are reworking the amphitheater. The third round and beyond is going to be something radically new, so if you want to be a part of it you had better give today everything you got! Where are you gonna duel with the stadium off-limits, you ask? Good question! Why.. the park is your battleground now! Each of the 16 attractions will be made available. Not just for you, but also for the remaining contestants and frontrow seaters. They payed a lot of money for their tickets and they would like to keep their nice view. My voice and screens will guide the rest. The first match and location will be posted at 9:30 AM!"

There was no misinterpreting that. Thirty minutes flew by and the names of two duelists were pasted on the big screen. Cassius would hold the first battle, on the go-kart tracks. This choice certainly did give off the impression that Dom was picking locations to suit the duelists. The opponent was Ichirou, whom the gang had met before at the golfcourse. Apparently he was another 1st XYZ-duelist like Stan, so Cassius had his work cut out for him. "Your mother isn't coming today either?" Once Uno rejoined the Brandts, another subject came up. "That's sad. She should see how well you two are doing." As told, Heather could not come any earlier then Tuesday.. if she was lucky. "I'm just glad that she's watching. Uno, maybe your mom was watching you too? Maybe someone saw you by now and is coming here to tell you who you are?" Uno had been on worldwide television. This had to mean something. "I sure hope so, Alice. I hadn't even thought of that." In fact Uno found it a bizarrely logical realization to begin with. Even if he did not know what his family was like, why did he not reach the realization earlier?

"Hey guys." The trio made it. That was clear from the gathering of duelists and the racetrack behind them. The synchro guild was clustered around the front. "Isn't Aaron with you?" Emily inquired. Of the 16 members, only he was absent. "Aaron? Oh you mean Cassius.. I thought he would be with you?" Akai shrugged. She had not seen him either. "No.. He isn't here yet? What's taking him so long?" Of all people, Cassius would be the last person to arrive.. last. Aaron hated being late and slow. Only a handful of minutes remained before his duel would officially start. "You don't think..." The other side was here. The XYZ-guild were ready to fight. Emily was starting to get awful images in her head. "Maybe his bike broke down?" Uno tried to calm her down. It was a valiant attempt, but easily smothered by the truth. Talk flew in from bystanders. "I heard something happened to him.""They said there was a crash.""It was one of them." The rumors spread into the crowd of duelists. And, finally, Dom gave his own piece about it, with loud clarity but not with joy..

"I BRING YOU UNFORTUNATE NEWS. THE DUEL BETWEEN CASSIUS AND ICHIROU IS POSTPONED DUE TO AN INCIDENT INVOLVING ONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS! CASSIUS FARRELL HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO OUR LOCAL MEDICAL WARD. THE DUEL AFTER THAT WILL BE MOVED DOWN FROM 10:30 TO 10:15."

"Oh no." Emily's face turned pale. "Aaron!"

As fast was possible, Emily, her friends and others from the Synchro-guild rushed to the emergency ward. It got rather crowded inside. "Where is he? Is he okay? Is he in danger?" The unfortunate first doctor they came across was hit by an avalanche of questions. "Easy. Easy. I gather you're all here for the person they just brought in? You can see him later, for now he has to be stabilized." He managed to explain in a way that gave little reassurance. "Stabilize? That doesn't sound good. What happened to him?" Uno asked. "We don't know exactly. He was found unconscious in the middle of the street next to a broken motorcycle. Presumably he crashed, but nobody else was on the scene at the time. He is not gravely injured, but we do need to tend to him. I am afraid I have to insist that you head to the waiting room. I will call you when we have an update on his condition.

So the duelists waited. Some had to leave because their name was called out for the tournament. "How can they think about dueling now?" Emily could not believe them. "I think that is what Cassius would have wanted, right?" Uno did not know what to say. He also did not know what to do if his turn came now. "I guess... Uno. You don't have to stay." Emily caught on to his twitching. "This is important for you too." She didn't want him to lose his chance with Dom just so he could keep her company. "But we will stay as long as we can, right? At least until we hear if he is okay." Alice was in the same position, more so than Emily since she had to support Uno's guild. If it hadn't been for that, she wouldn't have cared about her next match at all. "Thank you.."

"He is stable now. We pulled out some shrapnel and stopped the bleeding." It took a while, but a doctor finally showed up to deliver news to the waiting room. Emily immediately got up. "Did he say anything? Can we see him?" This news was an improvement, it sounded like he could receive visitors now. "He wont be able to walk for a while, he suffered some contusions. He is lucky though; he didn't break any bones. His consciousness has not fully returned yet because of the anesthetic, but if you want to.. you can go to him." The doctor did not see why not, for a specific reason. "Thank you. I.." Emily quickly found out what that reason was. Someone else had already been there.

"You!" Iria Silver walked out the door. "What are you doing here? How did you get that?" She had a dueldisk in her arms; Aarons dueldisk. "I am here to investigate, and this is evidence." She coldly answered both questions. "Investigate, evidence? You mean.." Emily gasped. If Aaron had his dueldisk with him.. "This was not an accident? It was a duel?"

(To be Continued in Annex 033 One Bad Turn)


	33. One Bad Turn

**Annex 033: One Bad Turn**

Iria was here, she had visited Cassius. That was his dueldisk in her arms. "You were questioning Cassius? Are you looking for a culprit." Uno pointed out. Iria did not deny it. "This tournament is hosted by our company. If someone got injured under our watch, it is our duty to find out what went wrong. This is a matter of security now and we are not ruling anything out." Iria bagged the dueldisk and handed it over to one of the guards that came with her. "So was it a duel that got Cassius hurt? Was it August? Did one of those people attack him?! Did cameras pick anything up?" If anyone would know what happened on the dueling network, it would be Dreamworld Emily wagered they were also monitoring every corner of the theme park. "What we know and what we saw is not something we need to share with you. All you are required to know is that we have no suspects as of yet. Now, if you will excuse me." Iria brushed her off and left the building with her security entourage.

"...Aaron." Emily let that encounter fall from her mind and went through the door to find Cassius' room. The unfortunate duelist lied in his bed, halfconscious. "H-hey there big guy." She did not really know how to talk to someone like this. She was hoping for some kind of reaction. "Can you hear me?" The best she got was a flutter of his fingers which could have just been an involuntary twitch. "Can I look?" Alice and Uno entered the room as well, the former with her hands over her eyes. "He doesn't look too bad." Uno said. Cassius only had a few bandages over his head and arms. Nevertheless Alice got quest after one peek. "Ehh.. I think I'll wait outside." She had never been too good with hospitals. She only managed to stick it out this long because she wanted to be there for her sister. And Emily planned to stay for a long time if she had to.

"THE NEXT DUEL WILL BE BETWEEN EMILY BRANDT AND ERIC STONEWELL! WILL THE CONTESTANTS PLEASE COME TO THE HAUNTED MANSION!"

Fate, shaped like a person named Dom, had other plans for her. "Not now!" Emily cursed. "Eric!?" Uno was more amazed by the opponent they selected for her. "I can't duel now. What are they thinking?!" Emily protested, for all the good it could do. "Maybe we can tell them to postpone the match?" Alice suggested from the other side of the wall. "If they did it for Aaron. Maybe.. But if that can't be done... what should I do?" Emily knew she could not let the rest of her guild down, but she couldn't duel at her best either if she was distracted like this. She would ask Cassius for help, if she could.

On some level he must have felt that. "!? Aaron?" Cassius grabbed Emily by the hand and looked right at her. "Emily. You have... to fight... The Fusion.. They.." Eight words were all he could utter before he passed out again. A nurse immediately rushed into the room to check up on him and asked the trio to get out for now. In the background Dom repeated his announcement. "Fusion." Emily could only hear Cassius' fragmented request echo in her own head. "Did they do this?"

...

Since there was nothing more they could do, and since Cassius himself had seemingly implored Emily to keep dueling; she was left with no choice. "I can't believe you're going to have to fight Eric. I don't know what I would do." Alice was more hesitatnt about the upcoming battle than the one who had to go through with it. "Em?" Emily was simply and silently marching onward. "Are you angry?" Alice had seen her sister when she got mad. Her fury tended to be tranquil and hard to notice unless you were had seen it before. "Is it because of what Aaron said? And because Eric is working for the fusion guild?" She was worried Emily would start to link the two together. "No. I'm not mad. Not with Eric." Emily eventually noticed what Alice was saying and tried to calm her down. She wished she could calm herself down too. "But..I can't lose to Eric. I can't take it easy on him." She clenched her fist. She was determined to win no matter what cost. "Oh.." Alice sighed. She stopped while her sister kept on walking. This was exactly why she didn't wanted to stay away from guilds in the first place.

Emily arrived on time. The haunted mansion she would duel in was less of a house and more a recreated castle. On the inside was a path of long wide hallways, with long transparent walls on each side. Beyond the glass was a castle courtyard, and usually the glass would project ghosts and zombies with the kind of emitters that were used by dueldisks. It was a rational extension of the already existing technology. Alice and Uno would watch from the halls with the rest of the duelists. Emily was allowed to set foot inside the castle area beyond the glass, where she would face Eric. She saw Eric before that though, in the room that led to the next area. He was talking to someone on a phone. "I don't know why I can't just say what you said to me. If you believe in me you can believe.." She managed to overhear a little before Eric got wise to her presence. "Oh hey Emily." He quickly shut off his phone and shoved it in his pocket. "I heard about what happened with Cassius. That sucks. How's he doing?"

"Stable." Emily answered, with a bit more hostility than she wanted to give. "Nice phone. Did the fusion guild get you that one?" Eric Stonewell could definitely not afford a thing like that. "Ehr yeah.. It beats having to talk to someone over a dueldisk. Anyway, so Cassius is fine? Great. I was worried you wouldn't come here to duel me at first. You are here to duel, arent you? I am ready to go." Eric sounded entirely ready to go through with the fight, which took Emily a little off-guard. "You're not upset that you have to do fight me?" She asked. "No? I mean I didn't think it would happen, but I see this as a chance to see how strong we've gotten. I have to know which one of us is better. Don't you want that too?" He wasn't being callous or inconsiderate, he was just eager to see what their duel would look like. They had dueled so many times in the past, and they were always even. "Maybe. I'm not just dueling for myself anymore. It's..complicated now. All I know is that I don't want to lose. So I guess.. yeah. Let's go." She passed Eric by and opened the door to the courtyard. "Right." They moved to their positions and activated their dueldisks.

Emily's LP: 8000 Erics LP: 8000

"And so we have the duel of the moment, Emily against Eric. Two friends torn apart by their guilds, like Romeo and Juliet in reverse!" Of course Dom was there too, his voice at least. Emily could not tell whether he was in a control room somewhere here or still back at his cubicle in the theater. Either way she wished he wasn't saying so much. It was clear that he only wanted to sell the 'drama' of this duel. "I get the first turn this time. Nice!" Eric gave it no attention. He drew his cards and set what he wanted; a trap and a monster. "..Your move, Em!" His turn moved to hers. "..." Emily looked to her left, to the glass window separating the stage from the seats. Even in such a small area, hundreds of people were staring at her. And thousands more were seeing this on the big screen from the comfort of their hotels or homes. It no longer phased her. "I...I will set these cards." She also placed a trap card and a monster down. "End turn.."

"It's like they don't want to fight each other." Uno rarely saw a duel start out this way; with defense matching defense. "But they fight all the time." Alice said. Though this was quite different.

"No attack? Did you draw a bad hand?" Eric was used to Emily always going for defense first, but she was not playing with the same old Eric now. "You can't afford to just let the hits come at ya. You know!" Eric flipped his trap card, Needlebug Nest. It discarded the top five cards from his deck. Three Infernoids were among them. "I can banish three Infernoids from my graveyard to special summon two Infernoids from my hand in attack position! Astaroth needs one." In zone one he placed his new metal-faced red dragon/demon; Infernoid Patrulea(4/1800/0). "Adramelech needs two!" His trusty old Infernoid Attondel the blue steel dragon(8/2800/0) arrived next, while Eric still controlled monsters with less than 8 levels. "Astaroth can skip out on his attack this turn to destroy a spell or trap card instead!" Patrulea cut Emily's facedown trap in half with the mechanical spike on its left arm. The card he destroyed was Skill Prisoner.

"Oh? You have one of those too!" That card was a real hit with decks that milled themselves a lot. It could negate the effects of monsters that targeted other monsters, even from the graveyard. "Haven't run into mine yet, so I can't let you keep yours! Astaroth!" Eric activated the other effect of his demon. By tributing a monster it would burn a card in the opponents graveyard. Patrulea drew blue fire in the canisters on its legs after burning down Eric's set monster. It then redirected the blue flames towards Skill Prisoner and banished it utterly. "Sweet. Here I come!" The greater demon shot hellfire out of its jaws. Emily's defending Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer(4/1200/0) was incinerated on the spot. "Remember. He can attack again if he destroyed something!" Infernoid Attondel prepared a second blast. It came straight for Emily and she took it without flinching. Though he took the first chunk of her lifepoints away, Eric was not satisfied. "Come on Emily. I want a real duel. Snap out of that funk!"

Emily's LP: 5200

"Oh? Oh! That was.." Emily realized she had matters to attend to. "My Soulpiercer." Because of Erich the Piercing Samurai went to the graveyard and she could use its search-and-retrieve effect. ".. adds Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei to my hand." With things going bad, she turned turn to the big guy. "That's more like it." Eric could end his turn now. "My turn." Emily drew a card. "I'll.. special summon Superheavy Samurai Big Waraji!" When a player had no spells or traps in the graveyard, they could freely summon Big Waraji, the Samurai(5/800/1800) with a sandal-shaped body. Though the controller could not summon anything but Superheavy Samurais for the rest of the turn, Emily still had a normal summon left. "Waraji counts as two tributes for machines, so I tribute him to tribute summon Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei!" And so she managed to bring out Benkei. The great samurai warrior(8/1000/3500) switched himself to defense mode as soon as he appeared. "I equip Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall to my monster!" The green-scaled shield fastened itself to Big Benkei's arm to bolster his(1000/4700) defense points. "He attacks Infernoid Patruleal!" With his new shield, the Samurai rammed the Infernal demon against the walls and crushed it.

Eric's LP: 5100

"That went better, right?" Uno was not sure whose side he wanted to be on. But he did know he did not want to see Emily struggle. "Maybe. Em is going fast now. Too fast." Alice figured her sister wanted to get back to Cassius quickly. That was why she left Attondel alive, to inflict more damage. Acting like this could hurt her more in the long run.

It was Erics turn again. "Now we're talking. I'm sure Cassius would like to see you fight back too. I don't know him as much as you do, but that sounds like something he would say." He drew his next card and frowned. He had been looking forward to seeing new Infernoids in 3D, instead he drew one he had already used last time. "Oh well.. I banish Infernoid Astaroth/Patrulea from my graveyard to special summon Infernoid Beelzebul in defense position!" But functionally the many-legged demon also known as Infernoid Antra(2/0/2000) would work. "Well. The next move is not gonna shock anyone..Beelzebul targets Big Benkei!" Antra's effect made the Superheavy Samurai go back into Emily's hand. Soulshield Wall was only good for negating attacks not effects. The equipped Superheavy Samurai broke into pieces without anything to hold it. "Now! A direct attack!" Infernoid Attondel lobbed a ball of fire straight at Emily.

Emily's LP: 2400

"!" Of course she did not feel the attack itself. It was what Eric had said that riled her up. "You're right, you don't know him as much as I do. So you don't know what this feels like." She couldn't only think about the duel anymore. "Eric. What do you know about your guild?" It would not help Cassius. She had to find out who had done this to him. "Huh? My guild?" Eric, for his part, did not understand why she was bringing this up now. "You talked to someone over your phone. That was someone from the guild, wasn't it? Did they say something about the attack?" That was what she called it now. It was not an accident. Cassius wouldn't drive so recklessly. "Emily. I haven't heard anything like that. Can't we talk about this after the duel?" Eric's voice cracked a little. He was nervous about something. He set a card in the spell/trap zone and finished his turn. "Are you afraid to say it in front of all these people?" Her eyes narrowed. Emily could see her from the corner of her eye. Dame Phoebe was watching the duel along with the rest of her party

"My turn! I summon Superheavy Samurai Scales!" Because Eric controlled two monsters, Emily could special summon the scale-carrying samurai(4/800/1800) from her hand. She could also make use of Scales' other effect. "Scales special summons Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer!" The scales tilted one way, as the samurai prepared to revive a card in her graveyard. "I can see what you're up to, Em!" Unfortunately the grave was Erics specialty. "I banish Soulpiercer by letting one Infernoid sacrifice the other!" Infernoid Antra absorbed the flames of Infernoid Attondel into its two canisters. Then it targeted the Superheavy Samurai Piercer in the graveyard and removed it before Scales could special summon it. "That wont stop me!" Emily called out another machine Samurai, a tiny guy(2/300/600) playing a trumpet. "Because I have no spells or traps in my graveyard, I can special summon Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter from my hand. Now I'll use both Samurais to tribute summon Big Benkei!" Trumpeter and Scales were tributed and Benkei the Samurai(8/1000/3500) regained his physical form.

That same moment, Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter brought itself back to the field. "Eh?" Eric checked with his disk. "That thing can revive itself if it is sacrificed? Wait.. it's a tuner monster? You're going to synchro summon?" Emily could not summon anything but Superheavies a turn in which she used Trumpeters first effect, but the materials she had were enough to bring out her synchro monster. "Yes!" Emily tuned Trumpeter with Big Benkei. The ten level stars collided and the great Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo(10/2400/3800) was summoned in defense mode. "Aaron gave me this card. I will win this duel for him with Susanowo!" The Warlord attacked and cut down Infernoid Antra with his sword. "I take your trap, Needlebug Nest." After its attack, the synchro monster utilized its effect. Susanowo could take Erics used up spells and traps and set them on Emily's field. In this case Needlebug Nest was taken from the graveyard and placed down at Emily's side. "Eric, I didn't want to put you between all of this. But if you know anything, you have to tell me. You are my friend, but so is Aaron.. and if I have to choose. I choose him!"

"I'm telling you; I don't know anything!" Eric insisted. "What do you think the guild did? They attacked Cassius so they could knock him out of the tournament? No way the fusion guild would do that. That's not how you win duels. They know that. You have to defeat someone with your own strength!" Eric flipped his trap. "And I still want to win too! I activate Fiend Comedian! It flips a coin to gain one of two results. Heads; I banish everything in your graveyard. Tails: I discard as many cards from my deck as there are in your graveyard." Eric tossed a penny into the air and he made it land with the tails-end up. "Ha!" That was the better of two results. Emily had four cards in her graveyard (Soulshield Wall, Scales, Trumpeter, Big Benkei). Eric could send four Infernoids from his deck to the grave. "You have shown me your trump card, Em. Time to show mine!" One of the cards he sent was Infernoid Onuncu, a highlevel demon with a costly summoning requirement. "I have to banish three Infernoids to special summon..." Eric removed Antra, Patrulea and a random Infernoid from his graveyard. "Infernoid Nehemoth!".

A titanic dragon from hell burst through the ground, emerging from the depths of hell. It(10/3000/3000) had no legs or arms, just spike-like appendages and red armor plating all over its body and spiked rings across its neck and ribs. "Behold my new monster! When Infernoid Nehemoth is summoned, he will kill all other monsters on the field!" The wheel on the back of the Infernoid began to turn counterclockwise. It was building up energy for the total destruction of the field. "Emily, you have no traps left. This is the final blow!" Eric unleashed the devastating effect and filled the entire courtyard with explosive blasts. "Emily!" Alice cried out. It looked like this would be the end of the duel. One clean blow would hand Eric his victory.

"No." Yet Emily walked out of the blast smoke, _with_ her monster. "I told you. I cannot lose." The Samurai warlord(2400/3000) was only weakened, his armor had been cracked. Emily had activated Superheavy Samurai Soulfire Suit from her hand to negate her Samurai's destruction. Though by discarding the Soulfire card, she had to subtract 800 defense points from her monster for this turn. Still, Infernoid Onuncu could not take advantage of that. "I _do_ believe the fusion guild attacked Cassius and I am saying it loud enough so that everyone can hear me! This dueling world is not as innocent as you think it is, Eric! Maybe it would have been better if you did stay home, and away from them." The guild, Dame Phoene. They were the true enemy. The sooner Emily beat Eric, the sooner she could get to that person.

(To be Continued in Annex 034: Weighing Sins)

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Big Waraji  
Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter

-  
Skill Prisoner

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Infernoid Patrulea  
Infernoid Onuncu

-  
Fiend Comedian


	34. Weighing Sins

**Annex 034: Weighing Sins**

Emily's LP: 2400 Erics LP: 5100

Eric missed his chance to defeat Emily and end the duel. Now she would hit back and hit hard. "I activate Needlebug Nest." First she activated Erics trap card that Susanowo had set on her field. The trap discarded the top 5 cards from her deck. "A stolen card is banished after Susanowo uses it." She tossed Needlebug Nest back to Eric, since he was the owner of it. His deck was a lot like hers; Superheavy Samurais also benefited greatly from Needlebug Nest. They were probably more alike than either would admit. But as often as they had butted heads in the past, he did not deserve her anger now. She knew that, but _he_ was the one standing in her way. "I will end this as quickly as I can. Susanowo, attack!" The samurai warlord(10/2400/3800) raised his hand against Infernoid Onuncu(10/3000/3000). "And I activate Soulbuster Gauntlet from my hand! When I have no spells or traps in my graveyard, Soulbuster can double a Superheavy Samurai's defense points during a fight with another monster!" The samurai's defensive power grew immensely. With its new gauntlet Susanowo(2400/7600) cut Ononcu's body in half.

Eric's LP: 500

"Guh." Eric was lucky that, unlike Big Benkei, Susanowo did not allow other Superheavy Samurais to attack from defense mode. So Emily had to throw all her boosts on one attack. "Damn it, Em. I can see what you're going through! Maybe I didn't know Aaron that well, but I know you! It's just.. even if I wanted to let you win, I don't think they'll let me!" Eric never considered throwing the match since he did not think it would count. "And I'm not even close to being defeated! My Nehemoth is waiting to come back to life!" If Eric drew an Infernoid from his deck, he would have enough monsters to banish for Onuncu. Emily could not save her Warlord the same way twice. "You are strong, Eric. I know that. But every deck has weak points." Before she ended her turn, Emily used the effect of Susanowo. "I will set your Fiend Comedian." The synchro samurai took the other trap in Erics graveyard and placed it down behind himself. Once her turn passed, she could activate the set Fiend Comedian. "Go!" She tossed her own coin, and it landed on heads. "!" That was the positive result, for her. It was quite negative for Eric.

"No. My demons.. Nehemoth." Fiend Comedian'sheads-effect banished each card in the opponents graveyard, each Infernoid. Eric had nothing left. Even if he had drawn one this turn, it would not have been possible to bring it out without banish-able Infernoids. "It wasn't supposed to go this way." The only actions he could make was defensive ones. He placed a monster and a spell card face-down on the field. His turn ended shortly after that. "Every time I get a bit ahead, you are right back there with me." He really believed he had gotten better. Yet now he was at her mercy. "Eric. You always have been strong, you were just unlucky. You didn't need the fusion guild. It's not too late to walk away from them." Emily took her turn. "But I have to keep going, until I reach someone.." She did her best not to glare at Dame Phoebe. The fusion girl kept watching with a mixed expression. "My monster attacks." With a swing from Susanowo's left hand, Erics monster was pulverized.

"Walk away? I can't! I have things I need to do! People who need me!" Eric yelled back. "I use the flip effect of Tour Bus from the Forbidden Realm!" The card he lost was a hellish bus(3/600/1000) filled with illegal monsters. "I add a fire-type demon, Infernoid Decatron, from my deck to my hand!" A flipped Tourbus could add any fiend as long as it had a fire/water/wind or earth-attribute. "Need you? What do they need you for?" Emily did not understand why, but what he said felt hurtful. "I'm not saying you don't need me either. I'm just saying I can't leave the guild. Maybe I said too much. I just wanted this to be a normal duel between us." He moaned. "I know, I know. It almost is.. You haven't even used an extra deck monster, you only used what you wanted. I wish I could do that as well." Cassius had helped her get this far, she _needed_ Synchro monsters to survive.

"No extra deck monsters?" Eric echoed her words with a guilty tone. "That's not perfectly true." His eyes were now looking at the duelists behind the glass as well. He looked at Uno and Alice. One watched him with admiration, the other with fondness. Yet both also had a concerned look in their eyes. "The guild did give me some presents as well." Then he caught the gaze of Dame Phoebe. She was in her darker mood now, a dissatisfied cold grimace was etched on her face. "I am really sorry." He would have to disappoint some of them. "But I have to show you.. You need to see how strong I really am!" What that card could do was something he would explain later. First he put up the monster that came with the Tourbus. "Infernoid Decatron!" It was a tiny demons head(1/500/200), with several energy canisters on its horns. It was the only Infernoid that could be normal summoned and the only Infernoid that did not get its name changed. "A tuner?" Decatron was also, to Emily's astonisment, a tuner monster. "A deck like that supports synchros?"

"It could, but mine doesn't. Decatron is in my deck because of its powers. He sends an Infernoid to my grave, and copies its name, level and effect!" As soon as Decatron was summoned, it sent a second Infernoid Antra into Erics graveyard. Now Decatron(2/500/200) could send a monster on the field back to Emily's hand. However Eric did not remove Susanowo yet. "Void Vanishment!" He played a continuous spell card from his hand. One that coated the castle courtyard with a layer of ice. "Each turn it discards a card to take a Void card from my deck! I can only summon Infernoids after I use this effect tho." Eric discarded Void Seer from his hand. "I add Void Imagination!" It was another continuous spell. Once activated it turned into a great tree with ten spheres in it. "Emily. I'm talking about fusion. It wouldn't be anything else. Void Imagination can tribute itself to fusion summon the greatest Infernoid."

"Fuse?" Emily shuddered involuntarily. "How?" Eric only had one monster in his hand and one in his graveyard. "Because of you. If only my opponent controls a monster that was special summoned from the extra deck, Void Imagination can take six Infernoids from my deck and fuse those." Eric pulled six Infernoids out of his deck. "I fuse Nehemoth, Lilith, Baal, Belphegor, Asmodeus and Satan!" Six spheres in the demonic tree flared up and broke the spell down. "The first two materials are crucial, the rest can be added. Together they create Infernoid Tierra!" The infernal flames broke free from their glass cages and merged into a shape that stretched out endlessly. A great winged serpent(12/3400/3600) was born under the red light. Both darkness and light were mere playthings in the hands of this demon. "Since Tierra was created from more than five Infernoids, two of its powers have been unsealed. It will send three cards from our extra deck and from the top of our main deck to the graveyard." Eric discarded two more Infernoid Tierras from his extra deck. Nothing else was in there. Now his grave was full of Infernoids again. Though because of Tierra's high level, they could not summon themselves yet. "Blast it." Emily had to discard a few more synchros and Samurais, none could help her.

"Emily. Do you see now? I'm not that loser Stonewell anymore!" Eric activated the effect of Infernoid Decatron/Antra. It targeted Susanowo. "Argh." At the last second, Emily managed to get one more use out of Susanowo's power. The Warlord took Reasoning from Erics graveyard and put it face-down in his masters spell/trap zone. That spell was one of the three cards Tierra had sent to the graveyard. "That's no good, Em! You arent gonna get another turn!" Eric balled his hand into a fist and drove it forward. "Tierra. Let me see your direct attack!" The Devils serpent spread outs claws and its wings, all twelve energy canisters shot out bolts of red energy and gathered it in one spot. Emily had only an instant in which she could save herself. "I activate Damage Diet! Damage is halved this turn!" She used her face-down trap as Infernoid Tierra released the fury of hell. Only half of the energy reached her. The rest was pushed to the sides. "Awesome! You can keep dueling! In that case.." Infernoid Decatron contributed as well; attacking Emily directly with its pincer horns.

Emily's LP: 450

"I can. I will. I will do whatever it takes!" She would plead with fate if that was required of her. "My turn!" The cards in her hand were definitely not going to last long on their own. "...I activate Reasoning!" All she had was Erics spell. "Eric. Choose a level." So she had to depend on Erics guesses as well. If he got the right number, she would have wasted the spell. "...Four." He went with a common option. That was more generous than she predicted he would be. "Okay." So Reasoning started excavating cards. "..." With a monster-heavy deck like hers, it was no surprise that she pulled a card she could summon right away. "Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei. Level 8!" Thankfully it was the one she needed the most. The warrior in steel and orange(8/1000/3500) returned to her field in defense position. "Oh so you have multiples of them now?" Back in the day, Emily could only afford one Benkei card. Eric did not foresee this. He did not seem to be worried either. _"Eric..he is not good at acting.. Did he want me to summon Benkei?"_

 _"No. Not exactly. But he does not fear Benkei."_ Emily made herself aware of the graveyards contents. _"Infernoid Onuncu and who knows what else. If I destroy his fusion monster now, he can resurrect them. I can't rely on my cards to protect me."_ Onuncu alone would devastate her field and wipe her out. Heck. Infernoid Decatron was not dead yet either. If she attacked, the tuner would tribute itself with Antra's stolen effect to avoid damage. If she did not, it could simply push Big Benkei off the field. She could not let Eric get another turn. The duel had to be settled now, she had to use everything she had. "...First things first. I equip Susanowo with Superheavy Samurai Soulhorns." A new set of armor appeared, with two horns on the shoulderplates. Soulhorns split itself down the middle and attached itself to Big Benkei. "Now my Superheavy Samurai can attack twice each battle phase." She also normal summoned Superheavy Samurai Swordsman(3/0/1800). "Eric. Here it goes!" Big Benkei's first target was Infernoid Decatron.

"...Infernoid Decatron can also sacrifice himself" Eric had no choice but to use the stolen Antra effect, unless he liked to take 3000 points of battle damage. Decatron was tributed and Superheavy Samurai Soulbang Cannon was banished from Emily's graveyard before that could cause any damage this battle phase. It would resulted in a tiebreaker anyway, and nobody wanted to find out what Doms rules for sudden death were. "I knew you would do that. Benkai attacks Tierra instead!" Benkei smashed his weapon against the fusion monster. With enough pushing, the Samurai managed to persevere and destroy Infernoid Tierra.

Eric's LP: 400

However, Benkei found that it could not pull back after is strike. Tierra had been frozen solid. "I activate the effect of Void Vanishment! When a monster that battles another Infernoid, they'll both be banished!" Void Vanishments cover of ice had spread towards the Samurai. The spell selfdestructed and Big Benkei turned into frozen dust along with the Infernoid. "I knew it." Emily had checked the full text on Void Vanishment before she started her attacks. "This is why I summoned the Swordsman.. in attack position!" Superheavy Samurai Swordsman could have switched itself to defense mode with its own effect. Except, without Big Benkei it wouldn't have been able to attack with its defense points. But the Swordsman was in attack mode. "Now!" This had to be it. This had to be the decisive attack. Eric had one card left, but he had set that several turns ago. If it could have helped him, he would have used it by now.

In spite of that hope, Eric activated the set card right now. "Emily.. did you really think I did not know what you were doing? Do you think _I_ don't know what I am doing?" It was Call of the Condemned, a new take on one of Erics old favorites. "I know you said I've improved, but you still see me as the little kid next door. Unless I do something about it.." Call of the Condemned special summoned a fiend-monster, Infernoid Tierra(11/3400/3600), from the graveyard. Superheavy Samurai Swordsman had to halt its attack. "!...Eric.." Her sealed defeat had taken form, hells serpent loomed over her. "Please.." There was nothing more she could do about it. There was no fire left. "Em. It's over.." Eric could just as well take his turn and his battle phase. "I will attack now." Victory was his. Infernoid Tierra combined the power of all 12 spheres and made the blasts slam down into the ground where her Superheavy Samurai had stopped. Only smoldering craters rested there now.

Emily's LP: 0

 _Call of the Condemned, Continuous Trap_  
 _Activate this card by targeting 1 Fiend- or Zombie-type monster in your graveyard; Special summon that target.  
When this card is destroyed, destroy that target. When that target leaves the field, destroy this card._

"You won.." She said wretchedly. "Emily I..." Eric had regrets right away. There was nothing he could take back now. "Don't. Just don't..." Emily did not want to look at him anymore. Her anger was not meant for him. She did not want him to see that she was mad with herself. "Emily.. I'm going to find out who did it Cassius, alright? I'm going to help.." He tried to make a promise to her plight. However she walked out the courtyard without another word. Eric looked up at the glass instead. Alice was already gone to see her sister. Uno stood there alone and he gave only a slight nod to acknowledge Erics victory. Uno would have had to see one of his friends lose here anyway. He would have said something if he could. For now he would have to stay by Emily's side. "Sis! I am so sorry you.. You were amazing. I mean.. Can we do anything to help?" Alice comforted her sister, which was a strange experience when it was usually it was the other way around. Only one thing could make Emily a little happy now. "I want to see Aaron."

"Nicely done, terrific work." Eric met with his own supporters as he exited the haunted stage. Dame Phoebe and several fusion-guild duelists had been waiting to congratulate him. Some duelists were not even part of the tournament, like Meridian. "I knew it as soon as I laid my eyes on this child. He has got the spark of fusion. Why you associated with people like that, I do not comprehend." He was of course overjoyed to see someone slay the slayer of Bakker. "Because they were..are my friends." Eric fired back. He would have added more to his rebuttal, if Phoebe had not placed her left hand on his shoulder. "Oh we are all friends here, yeah?" Her nails dug into the fabric of Erics coat. "That is the motto of the Guild; Strength and Peace through Unity. The more people unite with us, the more love we can spread around." She laughed a little and snapped back to her 'Dame' mode. "Truly, we are proud of you Eric Stonewell. You have taken another step on the right path. Your victory is our victory. Our victory will be partly thanks to you."

...

"I'm so sorry, Aaron. I couldn't do it. I couldn't get avenge you." When the trio backtracked to the hospital, they found Aaron in a somewhat more coherent and receptive state. Emily was allowed to talk with him. Most of what she said was in the form of an apology. "Em. I saw what happened." Cassius did not need to point out how he saw it. He could either have followed the duel on his TV or stared outside his window to follow the action on one of the many big screens in the park. "I saw how you did. There is no shame in losing. I should be sorry for making you fight Eric."

"But I would have done it for you no matter what." Emily swore. "Even if you would have had to face Uno, or Alice?" Cassius asked her. "I..." She did not feel so determined with those cases. "If it was Emily. I don't think I could have dueled at all." Alice started to say. She was still trying not to look right at Cassius because of how bandaged up he was. Her meaning was clear, she would have let her sister win if it came to it. "..." Uno did not possess that kind of confidence. He was just glad that he did not have to deal with that scenario anymore. He did not want to think what he would do if Dom forced him to duel Eric or Alice.

"But.. what is going to happen to the guild now?" This Round two had been brutal on the guild. Less a handful of synchro players left in the running. That knowledge pained Emily the most. "Who knows? I certainly can't duel in this condition." Cassius was the opposite, he had apparently already accepted their fate. "...Maybe you can duel by proxy?" Alice suggested randomly. "Proxy? You mean have someone use his cards and follow his orders?" That was something Uno had never seen before. From the look on everyone else's faces, they apparently hadn't either. "Can you?" Emily inquired. If there was a clause for it, Cassius had to take it. He was their guilds last hope. "I don't know if that is such a good idea. My head doesn't feel quite right. Talking to you is fine. Thinking about the game strains the brain." Cassius had no faith in this plan. He expected Dreamworld to rule him 'incapable' of dueling anyway.

"Cassius.. do you remember what happened then?" Uno also had a question.. _"Yeah I heard it."_ It sounded rather comical coming from him. "Yes! You tried to warn me about the fusion guild!" Emily yelled. "I did? I don't.. recall." Cassius looked utterly baffled. "I only woke up just now. Before then, I was driving on the road and suddenly..everything went black. It did feel like an attack though. I don't see what else could have..Gah!" Cassius reached for his head. "Oh no! Don't overdo it!" Alice cried out. "Egh.. That happens from time to time." This is what he meant about thoughts being painful. "Hope you dont mind me saying it like this, Uno, but I've forgotten what happened. It could have been anyone who attacked me.."

(To be Continued in Annex 035: A Touch of Silver)

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Soulbuster Gauntlet  
Superheavy Samurai Soulhorns

-  
Damage Diet

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Tour Bus to Forbidden Realm  
Infernoid Decatron

-  
Infernoid Tierra

-  
Void Vanishment  
Void Imagination

-  
Call of the Haunted


	35. A Touch of Silver

**Annex 035: A Touch of Silver**

"How can that be possible?" Iria Silver did not like what she heard. The people who analyzed the duel logs of Cassius' dueldisk came back with a very contradictory report. "We are still working on that ma'am. This is all we came up with so far." They had told her that though there was no indication of a duel in progress, the dueldisk itself had been active in the few seconds before its duelist crashed against the pavement. "We do not pay you to give incomplete answers, doctor. Can you not provide a single conclusion?" All she got from him was a mystery, that was simply unsatisfactory. "No other dueldisk was in the area. Even an unregistered device would have shown up on the network if it connected with this one." And yet this mystery was just one of many that had haunted Dreamworld lately. It wouldn't have been such a pain if the accident hadn't conveniently happened somewhere out of camera range. "Are these scans comparable to those of August's duel?" That man had disappeared from the logs as we all, as soon as he summoned that retrained dragon of his. "Yes." The doctors reply reaffirmed a suspicion of hers. "Then., if the crash was deliberate, it could have been caused by one of them. They could have infiltrated the tournament.. as an independent guild."

The Oddball guild wandered the park, waiting for the next duel to be called out. While they did not want to leave Emily and Cassius alone, they had to be ready to move if their name appeared on the big screens. "I hope he gets better soon." Alice was thankful to be out of the hospital either ay. "...Oh.. Yeah." Uno responded after an awkward silence. "Were you thinking about something?" He had the gaze of someone who was trying to see where the horizon ended. "Yeah, again. Man, if I don't work on my pokerface, the next duel might kill me." Uno tried to laugh it off, but Alice looked at him with those concerned eyes of hers. "Ah. It's Cassius. You know, he forgot who attacked him. It's good that he did not forget everything else, but maybe he was attacked by the same person who attacked me. Except they didn't get to finish the job this time?" Uno knew it could have just been headtrauma that made Cassius lose some memories. But he did not want to overlook what could be a connection to his own problem. "Why would they want Cassius tho?" She wondered. "Good question.."

"YOU HAVE WAITED LONG ENOUGH. IT IS TIME FOR THE NEXT MATCH! DON'D MIND IF I HYPE IT UP A BIT, BUT THIS ONE IS A DOOZIE! THE LOVELY IRIA SILVER WILL FACE THE ODDBALL ENTERTAINER UNO!"

"Silver?!" That anouncement hit Uno like a wave of cold water. "This soon?" His face was placed against hers on the big screen. It was going to happen. "Oh no. Not her." Alice trembled as well. That Uno would have to challenge Iria had been part of the plan from the start. Yet neither of them could have predicted that this face-off would take place in the second round. "Dom must have been spooked by what happened to Creffield. Hmm.. Well guess I am not fighting the XYZ and Fusion guild next." There was at least one upside to this. Now if only he could believe he was ready. "That woman.. her cards.. they are scary. Can you do it?" The other oddball duelist did not envy his position. "I will have to. Don't forget, I am a pendulum user too. If I can't beat her.." Well than nobody could. Still he put up a brave smile for Alice.

That smile started to crack once Uno made his way to his dueling spot. A small ferry took him to an island platform in the middle of a great lake. This was usually where fountain watershows were held at the end of the day. They could make all kinds of shapes and colors. He was not here for that, he was here to meet the woman in black. Iria Silver arrived on her own ferry, and set foot on the platform. The instant he caught her presence, his expression broke. There was just something about this woman that took joy away. "Uno. Bob. Whatever your name is. Before we begin, I will ask you one question. Where were you today between 7 and 8 AM?" Though she came here to duel him, she still had her business in mind. "What? 5 AM? I was in my bedroom..." Uno answered her before he realized why she was probing him for info. "You think I attacked Cassius?" He was shocked. "Can anyone testify for you?" Naturally her follow-up was just another round of interrogation. At least he had Alibis. "Alice and Emily. They will tell you I was in my room at that time."

"I see. That will be enough for now." Iria opened her briefcase and picked up her dueldisk. "That's it? You're not gonna tell me what this is all about? Someone did attack Cassius, didn't they?" His frustrated outburst earned him a blunt stare. "Have you forgotten the purpose of this engagement? The Master deemed this necessary to test your honesty. Whether or not you are genuinely deserving of answers or merely the criminal we initially perceived you as, that all will be determined here." Her disk was switched on. Her deck, filled with the terrifying Qliphort, was inserted. "So you never believed in my innocense. You still think these are yours somehow." Uno also took his Performapals and placed them in his dueldisk. "The cards and the disk. They did not appear out of nowhere. Everything has a source and an explanation. You are no different."

Uno sighed. "Then..enough said. Let's duel!"

Iria's LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"Indeed." Iria drew five cards. She would begin. "My turn. I activate this spell card." She played Summoners Art, a normal spell that searched level 5 or higher normal monsters from the deck. "I add Qliphort Scout and set it in the pendulum zone." The first pendulum monster was activated, the scale 9 scoutship. "A pendulum normal monster. It only has a pendulum effect.." Not even Uno's Performapals were that direct. "I presume you remembered that effect." Iria paid 800 of her lifepoints to use Qliphort Scout's power to search Qliphorts in the deck. "I add Qliphort Monolith to my hand and set that in the other pendulum zone." On her other side a one-eyed monolith showed up. It was a scale 1 pendulum monster. "The scales for level 2 to level 8 have been set. Only Qliphorts can be summoned while I control these Pendulum cards. There is no need for anything else." Iria took two more cards from her hand and placed them on the field. "I Pendulum Summon the Qliphorts Shell and Carrier." The mechanical Shellfish(4/1800/1000) and Carriership(41800/1000) warped down through beams of fiery light.

Iria's LP: 7200

"As they have been special summoned, their powers and level were decreased. Of course, they are merely.. tributes." Qliphort Shell and Qliphort Carrier were dismissed. They served to tribute summon a new Qliphort spaceship, this one(8/2800/1000) had a disc-shaped shield covering its upper side. "Qliphort Disk. In this moment, where it has been normal summoned, it will special summon two Qliphorts from my deck." Qliphort Disk opened its topshield to warp in two more spaceships. These were Qliphort Helixes(4/1800/1000), vessels with a helix-coiled body between both ends. Their attackpower and level was cut down too by 600 points and two stars respectively. "Monsters summoned by Qliphort Disk are destroyed during the endphase." Iria said abruptly and her turn did not last much longer either. She placed a trap card down and entered the endphase. The two Helix Qliphorts selfdetonated once Qliphort Disk stopped charging them.

The duelists around went wild with speculation as to the reason for such a seemingly pointless move. Iria had wasted all her resources in a turn with no battle phase. "..." No theories came from Uno's end. "That face tells that, while you have never used pendulums like this, you understand what they can do. You know what is to come." Iria placed her hand on her deck and pulled two cards from it. "I gain these cards because of Qliphort Monolith. Each turn a Qliphort Tribute summon takes place, the Monolith allows me to draw once for each tributed Qliphort monster." Now her endphase was over. It was time for Uno to show off his deck.

"Yes. I can see how strong your cards are, Iria. But they lack something.. they are too cold and too mechanical. I prefer mine... Performapal Cheermole!" Uno normal summoned the cheerleading mole(2/600/1000). A move that did not fail to baffle Iria. "Is this a joke, Uno?" That thing was utterly helpless on its own. "Maybe..." He chuckled and tilted his head to the audience. "I think you can hear me, can't you? So why don't you tell me which ones you like more? After I give you a proper taste!" Uno did not have either of his Gazers yet, so for now this would be a Performapal-only show. "I set Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer on the left and Performapal Lizardraw on the right!" The zones received the scales of two and six, Uno could pendulum summon any monster from level 3 to 5.

"Salutiger!" Only one could be called from his hand right now, the army tiger(4/1700/500). "Previously the finisher, now the opener! Since I completed a pendulum summon, Pendulum Sorcerer will add a thousand attackpoints to all my 'Pals' this turn!" The magic of the sorcerer affected the Mole(1600/1000) and the Tiger(2700/500). "This time we have a little dance number to go with it!" Cheermole used her own effect to permanently increase power that was already raised by another effect. A thousand more attackpoints were given to Salutiger(3700/500). "Nothing is too big for them, Iria! Performapal Salutiger attacks Qliphort Disk!" His tigerwarrior gave Uno a salute, before he channeled all his newgained energy into a fierce punch that plowed through the underside of the Diskship. It blew to pieces. Salutiger's effect now met its conditions. It had destroyed a monster, so it could give Uno a Performapal card (Performapal Whip Snake) from his main deck. "And attack number two!" Performapal Cheermole swatted Iria in the face with her pompons. "How was that?"

Iria's LP: 4700

The woman was not amused, he could have predicted that. What Uno did like was seeing and hearing some excitement coming from the crowd. Alice herself was rather quiet tho. "Guess she knows too.." Uno shook his head. He had more things to do. "I activate the pendulum effect of Lizardraw!" Uno destroyed the scale 6 Performapal. "Since I have a Performapal in the other Pendulum zone, Lizardraw can draw one card!" Uno took the next card. The sight of it warmed his heart. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" He wasted no time with placing it on the field in recently vacated red pendulum zone. "Time for the world to get to know you buddy!" Uno placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "During the endphase, I send Odd-Eyes away to add a Pendulum monster with less than 1500 attackpoints to my hand!" Uno exchanged his dragon for Stargazer Magician. Cheermole(600/1000) and Salutiger(2700/500) lost their powerboosts from the Sorcerer. "That was the end of act one!"

"Hmph. That was.. insuffucient, Uno." Iria scraped some dust off her suit. "Master Dom believed this mirror match would draw a reaction from your pendulum cards, similar to the one you exhibited during your duels with Stonewell and Boris. Yet no such thing occured. This leads me to conclude those events were errors caused by faulty coding." One turn was apparently all she needed to assess his entire deck. "Most damning of all, you have not grasped the full potential of the Masters creation. Uno, let me teach you what a _real_ pendulum summon looks like!" Iria took five cards.. from her extra deck. "Qliphort Helix, Helix, Carrier, Disk, Shell!" All five Qliphorts(4/1800/1000) came back. It did not matter that they had been sacrificed, destroyed or killed; because they were all pendulum monsters. Their destruction sent them face-up to the extra deck, from there they could be resummoned thanks to Qliphort Scout and Qliphort Monolith. As long as Iria controlled those two Pendulum monsters, she could this every turn. "I activate Qliphort Scout." She could also add new Qliphorts to her hand each turn, for a mere 800 lifepoints.

Iria's LP: 3900

Unexpectedly, the card she added was not a pendulum monster. It could not be special summoned at all. "This is Apoqliphort Skybase, a monster that requires three tributes." Iria picked up the Qliphort Helixes and Qliphort Carrier. "These shall be the tributes." The machines were cast into the water, casting an unwordly glow on them. The water parted to reveal a massive city-base(9/2900/2500) that was kept afloat by a doube-ring structure. "With their tribute, their activation conditions have been met. Qliphort Carrier will remove one monster and return it to your hand. Qliphort Helix will destroy a spell or trap card you control." Iria targeted Performapal Cheermole, Pendulum Sorcerer and Erics face-down trap. "You missed one." Performapal Salutiger was left alone for some reason. Uno did not see that as good news. "Apoqliphort Skybase can take control of one monster for one turn, Uno." Iria explained. "What?" Which meant he would have nothing on his field and she would have a total of 9200 attackpoints to hit him with. "That is right, Uno. This test is over. Your defeat was designed from turn one."

"She is going to win in one turn again! How is anyone supposed to duel against that?" The crowd rambled on. They were all prepared to write Uno off. "No.." Alice could not bear to look either. She clasped her hands, hoping for a miracle to happen.

"I'd like to reveal a flaw in your design, Silver!" Uno shouted as loudly as possible. "Huh?" Alice opened her eyes again and saw him activate his trap card before it could be destroyed! "I can still chain my cards to yours! Go, Command Performance!" Bright beams were fired from Salutigers body, as if it were a lightbulb. "This trap switches all your monsters to defense when I control a Performapal!" The beams struck Qliphorts Disk and Shell, forcing them to take a defensive position. Those same beams however were could not reach Skybase as it flew high in the sky. "Eh? It didn't work on it?" The Skybase stayed in attack position. "Did you not read? Apoqliphort Skybase is immune to all spell and trap effects because I tribute summoned it. It also cannot be affected by monsters whose level is inferior to its own. This is in addition to its main effect." Iria clenched her hand as a signal to the Skybase. It shot a tractor beam down upon Performapal Salutiger and dragged it towards Iria's monster zones. "I enter the battle phase, and _my_ monsters will attack." Salutiger had to strike his own boss. Then came the even more powerful attacks from the Apoqliphort machine. It bombarded Uno from above with explosions that covered the entire lake.

Uno's LP: 2400

"You secured yourself one more turn with your trap, I will commend you for that. Yet there is nothing you can do stop Qliphort. No matter how many you destroy, they will always recover." Two new cards were placed in her spell/trap zones. The old card was activated as well. "And they keep what they take. I tribute your Performapal Tiger to activate Tyrants Terror." Salutiger was offered to the tyrant of continuous traps. This one would make her monsters stronger each turn. With that move, Iria ended her turn. "I tributed three Qliphorts this turn." Qliphort Monolith opened the deck and enabled three draws. "I do not believe it is within your power to keep up, Uno." Apoqliphort(3900/2500), Shell(2800/1000) and Disk(2800/1000) were granted an attackboost each.

 _Tyrants Terror, Continuous Trap  
_ _Activate by Tributing 1 monster. Monsters you control gain 1000 ATK during each standby-phase._

"The show isn't over until the fat lady sings, Silver." Uno smirked. "You did not really think I would go down so quickly, did you? Being stopped at the door opening, after everything I went through.. now that would be a joke." Uno talked big. However his deck was not working along. He had no cards that could topple Apoqliphort Skybase, since it was immune to effects like Performapal Whip Snake's statswitching power. "But I can see we need to revise the act a little. This calls for Performapal Recasting!" He activated a spell with that name. "Recasting will trade Performapals in my hand with cards from the deck, with interest!" He shuffled Performapal Whip Snake and Cheermole back into the deck. Performapal Recasting then drew a card for each sent Performapal plus one more by itself. "Yes. This is the cast I need." He drew a spell, Performapal Spike Eagle and Timegazer Magician. "I set the scales!" With no monsters on his field he could place the scale 8 Timegazer Magician in the right zone. His partner, the scale 1 Stargazer Magician, subsequently appeared in the left zone.

"Pendulum summon!" Uno took five cards. "Performapal Spike Eagle, Thunderhino!" The spike-feathered eagle(2/900/900) and a rhinoceros(3/200/1800) with an electrically charged horn were summoned from his hand in attack and defense position respectively. " Performapal Lizardraw, Pendulum Sorcerer!" The orange lizard(3/1200/600) with the mantle of cards and the red wizard(4/1500/800) with the tophat were summoned from the extra deck in attack position. They naturally were not the only ones to escape from there. "And Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" His mighty red dragon(7/2500/2000) took the center zone of the stage, roaring loudly at the Qliphorts.

"Hmph. How predictable." That Odd-Eyes appeared was no twist in Iria's eyes. She had plans prepared for the dragon. "Trap card. Re-Qliate." A continuous trap revealed itself, another on-eyed monolith. "Level 5 or higher monsters that are special summoned will have their effects negated, and they will be banished when they leave the field." A purple glow captured the Pendulum dragon. Its damage-doubling effect was sealed. "You will not be returning that dragon once it dies, Uno."

"Is that so? Looks like I need a new main then! I activate the monster effect of Pendulum Sorcerer!" The special summoned Performapal magician took out a pendant from his sleeve and swung it around. "He can destroy cards I control, to add Performapals from my deck to my hand! He destroys himself and Stargazer Magician!" The pendants wire tangled around his wielder and around the white mage. Both were shattered. "The cards I add are Performapal Partnaga and Performapal Elephammer! They will take over for the two monsters I just lost!" Uno set Partnaga in the blue pendulum zone. Its scale of 3 did not complement Timegazer that well, now that the solo Gazer Magicians scale was reduced to 4. What was important was its attackboosting effect. "Elephammer I introduced last time. Back then he was only special summoned. This time, I will normal summon him... Which I can do without tributes when there are two or more Performapals waiting for him!" The vacant monster zone was given to the hammer-trunk elephant(6/2600/1800). "Here you go, Iria. My band of five against your band of three! Let's see how this goes!"

(To be Continued in Annex 036: No Law is Unbreakable)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Thunderhino

-  
Performapal Cast Change

-  
Command Performance

 **New Cards used by Iria Silver  
** Qliphort Monolith  
Qliphort Helix  
Apoqliphort Skybase

-  
Summoners Art

 _-  
Tyrants Terror  
_Re-Qliate


	36. The Exception to the Rule

**Annex 036: The** **Exception to the Rule**

Iria's LP: 3900 Uno's LP: 2400

Uno controlled Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000) and his Performapals; Thunderhino(3/200/1800), Spike Eagle(2/900/900), Lizardraw(3/1200/600) and Elephammer(6/2600/1800). Iria controlled Apoqliphort Skybase(9/3900/2500) in attack position, Qliphorts Disc(4/3800/1000) and Shell(4/3800/1000) in defense mode. Uno 's initial attack script was thrown off by Iria's trap card. Odd-Eyes could not double its own damage anymore unless Reqliate left the field. So he had to summon Elephammer. "You'll remember that Elephammer returns all spells and trap cards to a players hand when he attacks!" Uno boasted. "That is correct, Uno. But that will not undo the negation. The moment my trap targeted your dragon, it lost its effects for the rest of the turn." It was too late to help Odd-Eyes now.

"Still trying to teach me something, Silver? I already figured that out." Uno made both Spike Eagle and Partnaga target Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. The Eagle gave it the ability to pierce through monsters, the partner-snake gave 300 attackpoints to Elephammer(4100/1800) for each Performapal card on the field. "But Tyrants Terror will still be removed from the field!" The battle phase began and Elephammer raised his trunkhammer to the sky. As it came down upon the Skybase, Iria activated another set card. "I will activate Forbidden Chalice." A golden cup appeared above Elephammer. "Your monsters effects will be negated and he will gain 400 attackpoints." The cup tipped downwards and poured holy water over the elephant(4500/1800). "Oh? Min-maxing the damage output?" Her apocalyptic Qliphort still faced destruction at the end of this fight. The hammers impact sent a wave of detonations across the city until it all burst open as a shower of debris.

Iria's LP: 3300

"Odd-Eyes!" Next Pendulum Dragon unloaded his fire breath upon the floating Qliphort Disk. The ship went down in flames fast and Iria took 1500 points of piercing battle damage. "Lizardraw. This is your show too!" The performing Lizard whacked Qliphort Shell with his cane, and cracked it open like a porcelain vase. "Now according to the fine print, Re-qliate cannot exist without Qli-monsters." The continuous trap selfdestructed. "Excellent.. Spike Eagle. The last scene is yours!" The shade-wearing bird made a pass along the opponents side and slashed Iria with his spike-feathered wings. "Oh I get it." Uno said. It was a lot of damage that he delivered. Just not enough to definitively end this duel. "You want to keep the option open for Qliphort Scout.. but can you afford it?" He put his last card down in front of him and ended his turn.

Iria's LP: 900

"You do not ask the questions, Uno. You had two chances now and you failed them both." Iria drew her next card. "That you have disappointed the Master is perhaps your greatest crime. That is enough reason for me to destroy you. I.." She had every intention to crush Uno with her next pendulum summon. "I..." So she was more then a little perturbed when she found out that she could not summon anything. "Yoo-hoo." Uno's whistling made her aware of the problem. "Quickplay spell card: Pendulum Shift! I can change a pendulum's scale with this, mine.. or yours!" Uno had activated his spell and used it on Qliphort Scout. He lowered its scale from 9 to 1. "Hah.. Did you think I was going to let you bore the crowd with a repeat of the last turn, Silver?!" Qliphort Monolith also had a scale of 1. There was nothing Iria could pendulum summon with two of the same scales.

"Pendulum Shift only lasts for one turn." Her left eye twitched. Uno had stolen another turn right from under her nose. "Do not presume that His deck can be humiliated like that, Uno!" Iria had to used the Scout's effect. She payed 800 lifepoints to add Qliphort Helix from her deck to her hand. She then normal summoned the machine. "All level 6 Qliphorts can be normal summoned without tributes. In such an eventuality, their attackpoints and levels will also be reduced. However they are still immune to the effects of monsters with inferior levels." The energy core of Helix(4/1800/1000) emitted less light than normally. "I will target it with the equip spell, Saqlifice! A Qliphort equipped with this spell gains 300 attackpoints and cannot be destroyed as a result of battle." Orbs of various colors floated around the Helix vessel(2100/1000). "I will declare my attack upon Performapal Lizardraw!" The Qliphort shot six blasts. "Oh. That's a good target, would be unfortunate if..whoops." Halfway during the attack, Performapal Thunderhino tripped over its own hooves and fell right into the laserblasts that were meant for Lizardraw. "Aha! You forgot that Performapal Thunderhino makes you choose it as the first attack target!"

Iria's LP: 100

"It was intended. The monster had to be removed." Iria defended her actions. "Oh? Was this intended too?" Uno retorted by drawing three cards from his deck. "When a Performapal is destroyed by your attacks or card effects, Lizardraw draws a card for each Performapal monster on the field!" Now he had a whole new list of toys to play with. "..." Iria had no commentary for that. She placed two cards down in the spell/trap zone and ended the turn. Afterwards Tyrants Terror added 1000 attackpoints to Qliphort Helix(3100/1000). "Maybe I upset you. Maybe you couldn't think properly for a brief moment and you lashed out. I should say sorry. If my performance makes someone angry, then I should do a better job. I don't just want to make your boss happy, or the audience. I want to see you happy as well!"

"You will not succeed." Iria snapped into action as soon as Uno had drawn his cards. "I activate Escalation of the Monarchs!" She revealed a familiar trap, one that worked quite well outside of her Monarch deck. "I can now tribute summon this turn." Iria sacrificed Qliphort Helix. "While a Qliphort has Saqlifice equipped to itself, it will count as two tributes." The one Qliphort was good enough to bring out a higher level Qliphort; a monstrous space-mollusk(8/2800/1000). "Three effects will activate now. Qliphort Helix will destroy your spell card, as it has been tributed." The remaining energy of the Helix-vessel swirled around Performapal Partnaga and tore it to pieces. "And the monster I tribute summoned is Qliphort Cephalopod! For each monster your graveyard has over mine, you will lose 300 lifepoints and I will gain them." Uno's two monsters (Thunderhino, Salutiger) outweighed Iria's one (Apoqliphort Skybase). The cephalopod zapped Uno with his tendrils and drained the lifepoints away from Uno, while handing them to Iria. "Finally. If Saqlifice is sent to the graveyard, a new Qliphort will be added to my hand!" Iria added a second Qliphort Skybase from her deck to her hand.

Iria's LP: 400 Uno's LP: 2100

"I keep losing Pendulums. Good thing I have so many. Have you seen this one yet?" Uno did not miss a beat. He immediately filled the empty pendulum zone with a scale 6 card. "Play a tune, Performapal Guitartle!" This one was a turtle that had a guitar for a body. The name was rather blunt. "Now I can pendulum summon monsters between level 4 and 6!" There were two pendulum monsters he could summon; Partnaga and Stargazer Magician. He only had room for one monster on his field though. "I need your help on the monsters field, Performapal Partnaga!" The redbanded snake(5/500/2100) slithered out of the extra deck, and coiled itself into a defending position. "Partnaga's monster effect prevents attacks from level 5 or lower monsters! But when he is summoned, he gives a target 300 attackpoints for each Performapal monster." The snake stretched out to wrap around Lizardraw, Spike Eagle and Elephammer(3800/1800). The last one was the monster who received the powerboosts. "Maybe I'll be lucky this time! Elephammer attacks!"

Things went well at first. The elephant succesfully hit the ground with his hammer and began pushing Iria's pendulum monsters and continuous traps away from the field. "Limiter Removal!" Except one quickplay spell was activated before it could be returned. "Gah!" As the spell resolved, it removed the limits from the Cephalopod machine. It would destroy itself during the endphase, but for now its(5600/1000) attackpoints were doubled. Regretting his attack was all Uno could do at this stage of the battle. Elephammer faceplanted into the massive Qliphort and disintegrated into pure energy particles. "Ouch." Limiter Removal would destroy Qliphort Cephalopod during the endphase. That was not much help to Uno right now. "Now this is a show." He switched his other monsters to defense position. He also placed every card in his hand face-down in the spell/trap zone. "What else do you have?" His turn ended, and Qliphort Cephalopod blew up from the inside out.

Uno's LP: 300

"You are not suggesting you are actually having fun with this?" The smile on his face certainly did imply it. "Why not? You are definitely the toughest opponent so far, Silver. You should take some satisfaction from that." That smile just got wider and wider. "Do you think you can win?" Iria demanded to know. "Do you think you can lose, Iria?" He countered. "Nonsense. You are trying to bluff me; that is always your last resort." Iria returned Qliphorts Monolith and Scout to the pendulum zones. "There is no pride to be taken from this game! This disk and these cards are mere tools to achieve results! What lies in between does not matter. What I have to do is obvious... Pendulum summon!" She resummoned three Qliphort Helixes(4/1800/1000), Qliphort Carrier(4/1800/1000) and Qliphort Cephalopod(4/1800/1000) from the extra deck. "No amount of pretense will save you from absolute power! I tribute all three Qliphort Helix monsters to summon another Apoqliphort Skybase!" The Helixes vanished into the water. Once more a city-scaled skyfortress(9/2900/2500) surfaced and flew up into the sky. Though it was a hologram it managed to block out the suns light. "The tributed Helixes will destroy all three of your face-down cards!" A spell (Magical Star Illusion) and a trap (Performapal Pinch Helper) were destroyed first.

"Echo Oscillation!" The third card, another trap, was activated before it could be destroyed. "Thanks to your lesson from the Vice Shop chapter, I remembered that continuous traps resolve first if they chain to their own destruction! I will use Echo Oscillation to destroy a pendulum spell card and draw something new!" The trap's power echoed towards Timegazer Magician and sent it to the graveyard. Uno got a new spell card out of the deal. "That one.. was harmless." Iria realized she could have left that trap alone and sacrificed Qliphort Carrier instead. In that scenario, there were fewer monsters in between her and Uno. "...I activate Apoqliphort Skybase's effect." The skybase did steal Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon away from Uno with its gravity beam. Now it was four against three. "He will attack Performapal Partnaga." The snake had to be removed first, since its effect was restricting the movements of her weaker Qliphorts. "I activate Performapal Thunderhino's effect from the graveyard!" But Uno had an expected counter. The rhino-beast was banished from its resting place. "He can negate one destruction of a Performapal in battle!" A current of lightning ran through the snake's long body. There was enough voltage to deter the Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon who wanted to show his former partner no mercy.

"You leave me no choice.. I attack with Skybase." The machine of apocalypse targeted Partnaga with their orbital lasers and made it vanish in a sea of light and fire. Meanwhile Lizardraw let Uno draw another card from his deck. That was something Iria had wanted to prevent. Thunderhino had made that plan gone off-track. It seemed like all her plans were unraveling before her. "Cephalopod." The shell-machine was next in line. Its tendrils lifted Performapal Lizardraw into the air and strangled it until it splattered into starry flickers. "Again." Lastly, Performapal Spike Eagle was destroyed by a laser attack from the Qliphort Carrier. "You are still around." The woman placed three cards down in the spell/trap zone, two of which were the ones Elephammer had returned to her hand before. Then during her endphase three cards were drawn from the deck through the effect of Qliphort Monolith. Control of Odd-Eyes also returned to Uno. "I am. Doesn't that make you at least a little excited? You imagined this would be a walk in the park, that I would give up because I didn't really want the answers. I do, which is why I am still here. It's just that, right now, I am not thinking about all of that. I am in this duel, and I have no idea who is going to win. That is what makes this way more fun than a guaranteed victory!" Uno drew his next card, having no idea what it could be.

 _"Do you believe in fate?"_

 _"What?"_ Uno saw his card and heard a voice that was not his. No-one said it, it was part of his mind. _"Another memory? Why.."_ His Pendulum hadn't reacted in any way. _"Who..No. Not now. Later."_ He had a duel to win first. "Care to guess how I am going to pendulum summon this turn? No.. well time's Up!" Uno played a spell card. "I activate Harmonic Oscillation! With this card I can pendulum summon monsters that are face-up in my extra deck.. with the scales in your pendulum zone!" Qliphort Monolith and Qliphort Scout resonated with each other. "You are using mine?" The harmonic soundwaves traveled over to Uno's side of the field. He could now summon anything between the levels of 1 and 9. "I am saying 'Pendulum summon!' aren't I?!" Four blasts of energy pierced time and space. Stargazer Magician(5/1200/2400), Performapal Partnaga, Performapal Pendulum Sorceror and Performapal Lizardraw were all special summoned.

"Pendulum Sorceror!" Uno then made an attempt at using the Pendulum wizard's effect again. Iria beat him to the punch however. "I activate Escalation of the Monarchs! I will tribute the Qliphorts Carrier and Cephalopod!" Her continuous trap enabled the tribute summon of another Qliphort in her hand, a transparent alien stealth fighter(8/2800/1000). "Now that I have summoned Qliphort Stealth, two effects will activate! Both the tributed Carrier and the tribute summoned Stealth can return a monster on the field to a players hand! My targets are Pendulum Sorcerer and Odd-Eyes Dragon!" The stealth Qliphort hit the dimensional magician with an invisible beam to make him disappear. Qliphort Carrier's residual energy eliminated the pendulum dragon. "Ah. There's that look, Iria. You _are_ enjoying this duel too." Uno retaliated, both with words and cards. "Stargazer, bring Odd-Eyes back!" Stargazer magician controlled the dimensions with his magic. If a pendulum monster was returned to Uno's hand, he would bring it back to the field.

"I do not know what you are talking about!" Iria claimed in spite of the satisfied smirk that crept up her lips. "There are no more special summoned monsters on my field, giving me the oppurtunity to activate Lose One Turn!" She flipped another continuous trap. "Monsters that were special summoned this turn cannot activate their effects. If a monster is special summoned, it will be switched to defense position!" The Stargazers magic turned against him and drained his powers. Odd-Eyes would not be returning. "Ha. You can't hide that expression from me. I can tell when someone is entertained." Uno was happy, the spectating and clamoring duelists were happy. Only she resisted the atmosphere. "It doesn't matter. Notions like those cannot change the outcome of this duel! What can you do now?" All effects on the field were shut down. The remaining Qliphorts were too strong to take head on, and Partnaga could not boost anyone's attackpower. Apoqliphort had free reign to control whatever it wished on the next turn.

"Do you really want to find out?" All of this, and Uno still had that confident grin of his. "Do all of you?" He passed the question along to the audience. There was silence initially. "Y-yes!" Alice was the first to shout it away. "Show it!" Her cries inspired the others and dozens upon dozens demanded to see what Uno had in mind. "Well then. They have spoken. Iria. Let me start by saying.. I still have a normal summon left." Uno took a card from his hand and put it down. "So I will bring out... Performapal Bowhopper!" It was a tuxedo-wearing grasshopper(4/1500/1000), with a bow on top of its head. "You can not be serious." Iria's face fell flat. Not because this monster was laughably weak, but because it would be the thing that did her in! "I try not to... Bowhopper, take Partnaga!" Uno activated his new Performapals effect. "Once each turn, Bowhopper can tribute a Performapal. The tribute will do 100 points of damage per level. Partnaga is level 5, so he will take 500 lifepoints away!" The snake crawled on top the grasshopper and pulled the bows strings back. Then it let go and got catapulted right at Iria as if it were an arrow. "Of all the.." Partnaga struck her in the face and that was that.

Iria's LP: 0

"He did it? He did it! That absolute madman! WONDERFUL!" Doms voice finally came in as he witnessed the results of the duel. For the longest time he had assumed that his Pendulums were too much for Uno's. He was extremely delighted to see Uno crush that assumption. "THE ONE AND ONLY UNO HAS DONE IT! His are the supreme Pendulum monsters! That was simply marvelous! We all need a break, something like this has to be given time to soak in! The next duel and location will be announced in 15 minutes!"

"Way to go, Uno! You beat those scary machines!" Alice shouted from the side of the lake. "Yeah, Alice. I will be with you soon!b Just be careful you don't fall!" She was so euphoric that it seemed like she could jump in the water just to congratulate him in person. "So. Did that do anything for your master? I take it he had a reason to call for a break." Uno was carefully optimistic here. He did not want to jinx himself. ".. There is. He told me to take you to him if you defeated me, no matter how it happened." The woman gave a nodding gesture to one of the guards at the other side of the water. They sent in another boat to pick them up. "I lost sight of myself in between the power of the Pendulum monsters." She wondered how the duel would have gone if she had not given so much of her lifepoints to Qliphort Scout. That was what allowed something so puny to get to her. "You surprised me Uno. I didn't think your cards could ever last against mine. I can admit that I was wrong.."

"Thank you... Can you also admit that I made you laugh a little? I know I saw a giggle when that snake flew into the air." Uno winked.

"Don't push your luck, Uno." She gave him a deadly glare. "This is your chance to get answers. Dom is waiting.."

(To be Continued in Annex 037: U.N.O.)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Guitartle  
Performapal Bowhopper

-  
Harmonic Oscillation

 **New Cards used by Iria Silver  
** Qliphort Cephalopod  
Qliphort Stealth

-  
Forbidden Chalice  
Saqlifice

-  
Lose 1 Turn


	37. UNO

**Annex 037: U.N.O.**

There wasn't a duelist alive who did not hear about Uno's victory. Not when Dom screamed about it to everyone in the park, whether they cared or not. "That's nice. Maybe now that guy will tell Uno what he wants to know." This included Emily and Cassius. "Then maybe, you can stop now." While Emily was happy for simple reasons, Cassius saw a few more indirect benefits from all of this. "Stop? You mean step out of the tournament? But Eric is.. Alice is still dueling!" Emily did not want to leave before she knew how either of them would do. "Oh I don't doubt that she'll do well. But I'm speaking out of concern for your safety. This possible attackj on me may just be a beginning of things to come. If Uno gets his answers, he doesn't have to duel here anymore. Now could be the best time to pull back." He considered his guilds chances pretty dire right now anyway. "I think Uno would keep dueling even if he gets what he wants. He likes to show off. Besides, I'm part of your guild. If they stay, I stay."

Before either duelist could argue their case any further, a security guard walked into the hospital room. "Emily Brandt?" He asked for the name of the girl. "Ehr.. yes?" She answered somewhat warily. "Master Dom has requested your presence at the Stadium. Your sister and your friend are waiting for you there as well." If one had been asking for an indication of Dom living up to his promise, they got one. "Now? Matches are still going on, right?" The timing was a bit off though, Emily thought. "He has made time for you. Now please follow me."

It was hard to say no. A quick drive with the car and Emily found herself back in the company of Uno and Alice, inside a luxurious suite that Dom had hidden back in the amphitheater. "Ah, there we are! Everyone seated, everyone comfortable?!" There was narrowly any time to catch up before Dom made his entrance by dramatically turning his chair around. "Were you waiting there all this-""SO! Uno my boy, you really impressed me back there! Heck, all of you did. Your duels were outstanding and unforgettable! You can't tell me a man who loves dueling that much, could be a threat to Dreamworld. Now just like I prepare all my speeches, I prepared this one as well by envisioning the list of questions you would undoubtedly throw at me with on a moment like this one. So let's get some out of the way. No, I am not UNO. Yes I know UNO. No Uno you are not UNO. I don't know who or how you got a hand of our cards. That should start the fire. The floor is open now!" He placed his fingers against each other and waited for their response. "...and I thought Zach could talk without end." Emily only had sighs to give. "He learned it from the best, missy. Allthough his face is at least prettier than mine."

"Dom.. You know UNO. How? Who is he?" Uno took the 'floor'. He needed everything there was on this person. "Uno and I share a mutual pact, he does work for me and I do work for him. Though we've never met in person, I have heard his voice. It was partially because of him that I had to play it slow with you. I haven't heard from him in a while. I don't know who convinced you that he was at Dreamworld HQ, but they sold you a lie. UNO has never been near me." That is what Dom had to say, and Uno could not tell if it was true or not. Doms mask made it so that Uno could only go on his voice. "Someone lied at least." Maybe Uno had wasted his time with those psychic sisters after all. Neither the Uno nor the Odd-Eyes revelation bore any relevance to real-life events as of yet.

"Actually, I do wonder about something. If Uno gained your trust, why are you still keeping that thing on?" Emily referred to the cardback colored fishbowl that was his mask. "Oh I'm just used to going through my days like this." Dom played the question off. "Doesn't it get hot in there?" Alice played right along with it. "Very much so!" Dom laughed. "The point is.." Emily snapped to get them back on topic. "You ask a lot of Uno while you keep your own face bottled up. That doesn't sound very fair." She disapproved, period. "Hey! I'm doing this for your own protection. You saw that August guy, there are a lot of wackos out there like him who want me for my brilliant mind. If word got out that you've seen my face, they might try to get to me through you! Imagine the torture and carnage! I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Well maybe my lawyers.. Still, you don't want to know everything about me. I don't. Iria and Zachary are the only ones I know who can take it."

"...I see your frown is getting frownier." Dom said as he took one look at Emily. "Here is something to tide you over. Your friend Stonewell works for us."

"What!? Eric?" Alice and Emily cried out simultaneously. "Sir? Do you think it is wise to tell them this?" Iria finally spoke up, also taken aback by his 'honesty'. "They did enough to fool the others during that duel at the haunted house. There is no harm now." Dom gave her a shrug. "So there was a reason." Uno should have known. The anomaly wasn't that Eric joined a guild, but that he wanted to stay quiet about it. "Yes. We put Eric in the fusion guild to act as our informant. I'd call him a spy, but that's an ugly word." He waved his hand dismissively. "You made Eric your spy? Isn't that dangerous?" Alice asked. "The idea was his. He came to us, pleading, and we decided that his contributions could help us expose corruption. We gave him what he needed to get into a guild, and then he worked his way up from there."

"How is that not dangerous? What if the fusion guild is behind the attack on Aaron?" Emily protested. Knowing what really had gone on with Eric just made her frustrations worse. "And did you just say that 'I played my part?' Does that mean that you set us against each other?" She knew they could do that, Iria did not just radomly become Uno's opponent in round two. "I do what I have, when I have to. Right now I am holding Alice back from any matches so she can be here with you and me." Doms response was both revealing and also did not actually answer Emily's question. "The Fusion guild is not responsible for any attacks. That's not their M.O. Usually they just stick to bribing, betting and forgery. Now being part of an counterfeit black market, that is more their thing. Your friend is trying to find out if they have connections. Zach has the details, since he's his correspondent now. But according to him, the guild did not make any noise this morning. And if that wasn't enough."

The master tapped a button on his desk and opened a door on the wall behind him. A security guard walked through the door, carrying a dueldisk. "Aarons disk?" It was the same one Emily had seen Iria take earlier this day, Iria took it again. "Our people finished analyzing this device, and compared it with all known transactions on the network at the time. No other active disks were near the scene of the accident, and no ID connected to this one. So we can conclude for now that no guilds were involved. We do not need this anymore." Iria explained before she just handed it back to Emily. "Gee, thanks." It was not as if Cassius could use it anymore. "It is a pity. I could easily have rearranged the playlist to set his duel at the end of the day. But it doesn't look like he will get better in time."

"Anyway, this is getting boring. Uno! Let's get back to you, and to what makes your Pendulums special." He leaned forward in his desk, resting his dome on his hands. "We picked up something interesting during your duels." His head tilted to one side. "Your pendant.. may I see it?" Uno's heart thumped heavily as Dom mentioned 'that'. "Pendant? I don't have any jewelry." He tried to feign ignorance, even if he did not really know why. "Oh right. You bugged my dueldisk." Iria and Dom probably already heard enough. "Here then. Maybe you'll understand it better than me." He took the jewel off his neck and placed it on the desk. "Well I'll be. An actual pendulum. This is what was making things go haywire." Dom rubbed his mask as if that made it easier to see. "Now this is new to me, Uno. See, that duel against Iria was supposed to replicate the odd phenomenon that happened five times now. Eric, Boris, Stan, Meridian, August; each time you battled them, some glitch showed up in the network. It did not happen against the Qliphorts. Very strange."

"Can I ask something?" Alice raised her hand. "Of course you can! What can I do for you little Alice?" The master giddily clapped his hands together. "Those Pendulums, how did you come up with them? Why do they look like that?" She referred to the Qliphorts, though the Performapals and Magicians counted as well. "That _is_ a good question. Did you design all of them?" Uno had seen evidence on the contrary. "Ah. I'd like to take credit for all of it, but the cards we have today are the result of a combined effort of our creative teams, the guilds input, and my genius. Now if you promise not to spread this around, I can tell you who came up with the idea." Emily and Uno seemed to accept this condition by staying silent while Alice nodded fiercely. "From the Infernoids to the classic Dark Magician; it was UNO who gave life to them. It all started as a simple novel series he wrote twelve years ago. But everyone has forgotten the books and only remembers the cards that came from them. I owned the company that made the cards real, but he helped us with the designs. There is a reason my friend called himself UNO. He did not want the world to know, but he is technically.. The First Duelist."

"UNO... invented the cards?" More and more pieces fell into place. "I _must_ have known UNO in the past.." It was what he had believed all along. "Possibly. I don't have his friendlist. I asked him about you, but he claims to not know anyone that looks like you." Dom said. "All I know he has a wide range of interests; from circus animals to.. what was it again, Iria?" Some references were lost on him. "The sephirot tree, sir." Iria was luckily always there to remind him of such things. "Right, the ten spheres. Now, to get back to this." He nudged the pendant on his desk with the tip of his finger. "This thingamajig is the key. I'm no gem expert, but I am pretty sure we can figure out your whole deal if we understood what this pendant can do." Before he could fiddle with it more, Uno took the jewel back. "You want to help me now? Nobody told me that we were on the same side." He tucked it away behind his shirt. "I trust my friends before I'd trust you. And they have a good point, it's hard to work with someone whose face you can't see."

"Of course we're on the same side, my boy! You can come to me with all your wishes. How is this for an idea? We should recreate the events of one of those previous duels. Sure, half of those people are not in the tournament, but.." Dom pulled out a notepad from his drawers and used it to turn on a big screen behind him. "There is one of them right now!" On that screen were two duelists fighting each other in the forest of monster statues. "That guy?" One of them was Stan, the XYZ-duelist Uno had battled two weeks ago. "Bingo! What do you say to a rematch with him? That could get that old crystal to stir a little." It would be a repeat of what happened then, something Uno was not necessarily against. "You're going to schedule his next duel now?" Alice was amazed Dom could even do that. "Happens all the time. This morning some eager young lad traded in a lot of dueling credits to get a shot at dueling Adamant. It's perfectly legal and encourages trading."

"Uh I think you should be watching that duel." Emily pointed to the screen. "Relax. I told you, I prepare all my speeches in advance. My staff just plays the proper recorded soundfile at the appropriate time." These XYZ-Guild duels usually ended the same way anyway. "Sir. I think she was talking about something else." Not in this case. "Huh?" Dom turned his chair around and watched the duel with his own eyes. "Hey now. That wasn't part of the plan!" It looked like Stan was taking a few nasty hits. "Who is that kid?" Uno saw that Stans opponent was just a young boy with messy blonde hair and a tattered grey coat. He did not look like prime dueling material, yet he was using cards that could match Stans. "It says here his name is Neter Decan; aged 13." Iria pulled his profile up. "He comes from his own independent guild, the Sleepers, and uses Tellarknight cards." Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. "You think he can win?" Alice was curious what would happen if he did. "He better not. I have things riding on this. Go Stan!" Dom pumped his fist in the air.

Stans LP: 5600 Neter's LP: 5700

"Hehe.. My turn!" Neter seemed like an energetic little kid, he did a lot of exxagerated movements just to draw his one card. He controlled one monster, Satellarknight Rigel(4/1900/700). "I would not laugh. I control the field." Stan meanwhile had both his best XYZ-monsters on the field, Castel the Skyblaster(4/2000/1500) and two Kings of the Feral Imps(4/2300/2000). "You control the field? Haha, you don't know how funny you sound.." Neter normal summoned a new Tellarknight. "Go, go, go! Satellarknight Altair!" Altair(4/1700/1300), like most Tellarknights was a knight in white armor with a large golden ring floating around their bodies. Rigel had a long cape and curly blonde hair, while Altair had angelic wings on his back. "Bring baaaaack.. this one!" Altairs effect could special summon a Tellarknight from the graveyard. Neter chose Satellarknight Alsahm(4/1400/1800); a tiny armored archer with golden wingsymbols behind his back. "Familiar face, isn't it?" Alsahm inflicted 1000 points of damage each time it was summoned. Just like it did right now.

Stans LP: 4600

"By the way, mister, you are not the only one with XYZ-monsters, you know?" Neter took all three of his level 4 monsters. "Rank 4?" Like Stan this kid was using them to Xyz-summon a monster of the 4th rank, the Satellarknights overlayed into one majestic knight(4/2100/2500) of the stars. In one hand he held a three-pointed shield of energy, in the other a glowing saber. "Hey. Remember when you said you controlled the field? Hahaha, funtimes." The knight threw his shield down on the ground. "This one is Stellarknight Triverr. Because I summoned him the right way, he sends all other cards on the field back to our hands!" The triangular force shield trapped all of Stans cards in the field and banished them back to his hand. "I assumed you would have one or two Xyz-monsters, Neter Decan. But one is not merely enough." Stellarknights were a deck dedicated to XYZ-monsters, though they were usually restricted to their own family. Summoning Triverr denied the player any non-Tellarknight summons for the rest of the turn.

"Hey. I said monstersss. The 's' at the end makes it plural!" Neter activated a spell card; XYZ Shift. "Here is another right now, ha-haa!" XYZ Shift tributed Stellarknight Triverr to special summon a Xyz-monster with the same element, type and rank as the sacrificed monster. It needed to have a different name though. "He's here, here, here! Stellarknight Delteros." Delteros(4/2500/2100) looked much like his predecessor, except his sword and shield glowed with the color of gold. The same color adorned the wings with which he flew. XYZ Shift also attached itself to the new XYZ-monster as its single material. "Oh! I almost forgot about Rigel!" Neter took a card from his graveyard and put it on the field. "Ugh." Stan was affraid of this; Stellarknight Triverr could special summon one Tellarknight whenever it went from the field to the graveyard. "You XYZ-shifted one monster to bring out two monsters." It was such an unusual combo, one that his class of duelists would never bother with. Yet now it was what was going to finish him off. "Yay! You know how it works! So guess all I need to do is fight, fight, fight!" The revived Satellarknight Rigel could give a monster 500 attackpoints when it was summoned. It boosted his(2400/700) own power, so he and Delteros could join blades to cut Stan down.

Stans LP: 0

"...well that's a bummer." That was the duel, Neter was clearly the winner. Dom's nice project went up in smoke. "Independents are giving me a lot of trouble lately. But hey, this kid clearly spent a lot of bucks to get those XYZ-monsters, so I can't complain." That was the norm for independents. If you were not part of the three big guilds, extra deck monsters cost three times as much. "So who's left?" Dom inquired. "The only one to fit the criteria is Eric Stonewell." Iria had crossed of every other name on the list. Boris and Meridian never made it into the tournament and August was clearly not participating. "Ah yes. The classic friend and mentor scenario. What do you say, Uno? Are you up for a test?"

"You're gonna choose something if I don't." Uno preferred not knowing who his next opponent would be. But he did not have that luxury with a gamehost this erratic. Dom seemed set on the concept of a pendant-themed rematch. "Leave Eric alone, at least. You helped him get into the guild, that is more than enough. I want him to know he earned it when he does well." He closed his eyes for a second to think. Was there someone to duel, someone he simply wanted to duel? Adamant or Phoebe both were very alluring targets. On the other hand, the show man inside him suggested that he had to build up anticipation and leave the big hitters alone until the last few rounds. "Neter." He made his choice. "Him? Intriguing.." Dom chuckled. "You got it." A mere push of the button was all it took to arrange it. "..." Uno wondered already if he would regret this alliance.

(To be Continued in Annex 038: Ghost Stories)

 **Cards used by Neter  
** Satellarknight Rigel  
Satellarknight Altair  
Satellarknight Alsahm

-  
Stellarknight Triverr  
Stellarknight Delteros

-  
XYZ Shift


	38. Ghost Stories

**Annex 038: Ghost Stories**

Round two was winding down. Inevitably Alice was called to the stage to go up against someone from the Fusion Guild. While she and her sister headed for the dueling spot, Uno stuck around Doms place a little longer to get some more questions answered. The spot itself was an ice skating ring, though obviously Alice would not duel on the ice itself. _"So empty now."_ It was while watching this duel that Emily noticed how few of her 'friends' were still around. The Synchro guild had finished all their duels for the day and they lost another three members. Cassius wouldn't be fighting so his opponent just got his free ticket to the third round. It happened to be someone from the XYZ-guild, of all guilds. Sure that guild took a few more hits, but Adamant was still around. The champions duel, which would cap off the day, seemed like a foregone conclusion. She felt lonely. At the very least she still had her sister.. and her family.

"Uhhn.." She could only groan as her phone's most used ringtone went off. "Hey mom." It was that time again. "Hi honey. I heard about what happened today. I am sorry that it happened." Today's call was decidedly less upbeat. What Emily did not need was a reminder of her own defeat. "It happens. Nobody wins all the time." She told her mom. She had been saying that to herself for some time too. "Well your father and I want to know that we are still proud of you, and that we wished we could have been there. But my schedule is still open for tomorrow so.." Heather did not want to fail her promise to come on the third day. "About that. Mom.. maybe you shouldn't come." Unfortunately Emily could only think about what Cassius had said earlier about leaving the tournament. "Why? What is wrong honey? Is it Alice?" Her mother seemed oblivious to what else had occurred in the amusement park. "You didn't hear?"

"Never mind. Alice is.. doing okay. More than okay actually.." Emily heard shouting; the duel had found a winner. It was her sister. "She won? Oh that is splendid. Now I am certainly going to be there." Now there was no excuse Emily could use to make her stay way. If Alice had lost, things could've been different. "But I would have done the same for you, you know that right?" Now Mrs. Brandt wondered if jealousy was playing a factor in what her daughter was saying. "I know, I know." Emily did not need to be told that either. She was rarely envious of people, least of all Alice. If her younger sister was happy, she was happy as well. "Is that mom? Gimme, gimme, gimme!" Especially since Alice got excited over just about anything, no matter how often she did it. "Here." Alice came back and got the phone from her sister. She talked her mothers ears off, bringing up how she felt less and less anxiety each time she dueled in front of all those people. _"Why didn't I just tell her?"_ Emily wondered to herself. She wanted to explain what happened to Cassius and it should have been as simple as saying.. "Oh yeah Aaron got hurt a lot today." Like what Alice was saying right now. "H-hey!"

"Shouldn't I have said that?"

So after a fun conversation with her mother, about the dangers of fast and reckless driving and how Cassius was lucky to not have his bones broken, the sisters had time for themselves. "She didn't even want to listen." Emily had not succeeded at convincing her mother not to come. She saw the accident as something that was bound to happen with someone like Cassius. That was the most insulting part. "And the outside world doesn't even know.." There was also that part. Was Dreamworld covering it up or did nobody care? "Do you think Eric was watching my duel?" Alice brought up a new subject. "Huh? No, I don't think so. I didn't see him." The fusion guild crowd was big, but Eric had not been with their mob. "I still need to talk with him." Because of Doms revelations, Emily knew the full story behind Erics bizarre actions. She wanted to apologize, a little, for things she had said the last time they saw each other. "What if that black and white lady is with him though?" But Alice raised a counterpoint; if Phoebe was watching Eric, they could hardly discuss his 'spying duties' in public. "He has got to be alone at some point.."

...

"And that, my boy, was the first time and last time I flew economy class. Nasty business, don't recommend it." Dom ended his long story. "That was nowhere near an answer to my question. Also I'm pretty sure half of that was made up." It took more time to listen to than Uno could recount. "Ah but you kept listening! You're alright, Uno! Shame that you forgot most of your stories, I am betting there's a whopper or two among them." A sigh escaped his dome. "Anyway, that should hold you for now. There's one more duel coming up and I don't want to miss doing live commentary for this one." The duels so far had all been broadcast on the big screen behind him, so Uno was at least aware of Alice's victory. "A duel you do not want to miss?" Uno could also deduce who was still left; Adamant. "This is it then? What about me meeting the real UNO?" That was something only Dom could give him. "He's a hard guy to get on the line.. He might be more interest him in you if I can convince him that you're no threat. Either way, you can count on me Uno-boy. If he makes a peep, you will be the.. fourth to hear about it."

"I guess I should say thanks." Uno got up. He stared at Iria. "You know, I can understand Zach working here with him. But what is your reason? Does it pay good?" Iria had never given the impression that she liked playing games, nor did she have much patience for fun. There was a story Uno would love to hear. "Nothing like that, Uno. Nor is that an answer you need to have. Now can you find our own way out of here, or do you need an escort?" He should have known better than to try. "The former." Uno would have to try again later. He had a feeling they would be more honest than Dom himself was. Dom may have acted the part of the fool, but he was no fool. Uno could see that right away. "Oh don't worry about the pendant by the way. If it acts up again, we will know and my boys at the lab will figure out what it's doing." He always left out just enough information. Like, how were they going to figure it out? How were they keeping track of the pendant? There was no way he would get clarification on that issue. "Yeah, see ya."

...

The final duel of round two would take place at the centerpiece of the amusement park, the massive Blue-Eyes White Dragon themed rollercoaster. "You think they're gonna duel while riding the cars?" An environment like this begged for a sensational duel. "That sounds like a terrible risk to take for no reason, but who knows." Emily did not look forward to seeing another accident. One was enough for a day. Normally she would not be here to begin with, as she had no investment in the outcome of this duel. "Howdy!" But since Uno didn't know where they would be otherwise, the two sisters had been waiting for him at this spot. "It didn't start yet, did it?"

"Not yet. Kyle is not here yet." The XYZ-guild stood on one side of the tracks. Adamant sat in the middle with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. "Kyle?" The other duelist was late. Few duelists from the fusion and Synchro-guild had shown up as well. "Yeah. That guy we met at the casino, remember? He was the one who told us about the independent guilds." Alice had to remind Uno, since he had never met the guy in person. The face on the big screen rang no bells. "Oh yeah. Wait.. " Another memory scratched the back of Uno's mind now too. "Dom said something about this duel.. about choosing to be Adamant's opponent. So Kyle did that?" That was not what he would have done. Adamant seemed like the kind of guy you'd want to leave to someone else. "Maybe he believes he has a shot? You don't set up matches like this unless you know what you want. He must have _a_ reason." Emily could not rationalize it very well either.

"There he is!" Finally, right on time in fact, Kyle appeared. He had his cards already inserted into his dueldisk and the disk itself was turned on. "..." Adamant's disk received the challenge signal from Kyle's disk. "Kyle, is it?" The rest of his guild moved out of the way to let Kyle make his approach. Kyle however took his position on the other side of the tracks, passing right by Uno and the girls. "Hey, Kyle! Remember us!? We're here to wish you good luck!" Alice waved at him. Despite their close proximity, he walked on as if he saw and heard nothing. "Huh? That's not nice..." He wouldn't have noticed anyone else either. Uno realized that Kyle had set his sight on Adamant this entire time. "Are you not going to get up?" Kyle finally spoke. He was ready. Inversely, Adamant was still lazily sitting on a waiting bench. "You made me wait. Because of you my duel was placed here at the end of day. You have my attention, Kyle. I hope you can keep it." The XYZ-duelist only moved to prepare his cards. "You can bet your life on that, champion of the XYZ-guild."

Adamant's LP: 8000 Kyle's LP: 8000

"AND THEY'RE OFF! LADIES AND GENTLEMAN WELCOME TO THE CLIMAX OF ROUND TWO. IT HAS BEEN A DOOZIE OF A DAY HASN'T IT? WELL WE SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST!" True to his word, Dom returned to active commentary for this match. Something that both sides could have done without in fact. "Terraforming!" Kyle activated a spell right in the middle of Doms speech. Terraforming searched the deck for field spells and added one to a players hand. "I take Ultra Athlete Stadium!" Kyle settled on one card and used it. The ground beneath the two players turned into a trackfield of artificial green turf. The area around them became a futuristic sport arena, with a floating monitor station up above. "Whoa.." Uno felt like he was standing in a real life building for a second. The stadium was huge, hiding half the tracks. "Ah. I was beginning to worry nobody would play a field spell to play off the enhanced visualizers!" Dom bragged. Hologram amplifiers were set all over the park. This was the first time people could see the full effect of it.

"Just noise." At any rate Kyle continued his turn. "Ultra Athlete Midfielder!" In the center zone he normal summoned a soccer(4/1200/1000) player with cybernetic jetboots and a helmet for safety. Because of this the effect of the field was triggered. For every normal summon, U.A. Stadium would add a new U.A. monster to the players hand. "I add Ultra Athlete Blockbacker! I will summon him too, in defense mode!" The athletes of course could still tag out and in. By sending U.A. Midfielder back into his hand, U.A. Blockbacker the armored football tackler(7/1600/2700), could special summon himself from Kyle's hand. Reasonably, U.A. Stadium had an effect that aided special summons too. Once per turn, when an Athlete was special summoned, all Ultra Athletes on the field would gain 500 attackpoints permanently. Invisible spectators in the holographic stadium cheered Blockbacker on to make him(2100/2700) feel more psyched for battle. "I set a trap card and end my turn!"

"The Ultra Athletes. A relatively old archetype, not geared towards any extra deck mechanic. It is standard for a duelist like you, Independent Guild. Yet their chances are poor,. You chose to challenge me with this?" Adamant did not give of a very enthused impression so far. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Champion!" Kyle said. Though it sounded more like he was growling. "An attachment between you and your cards then; how foolish. You would do better to waste someone else's time." Adamant placed a trap card face-down and summoned a monster; Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius(4/500/1500), in attack position. "End turn." He did nothing else, which came as a shock to everyone but mostly to Kyle. "Are you mocking me? Do you think that you can afford to not play just because of what cards I'm using?! Or does even the champion run into a bad opening hand?" U.A. Blockbacker could switch one special summoned monster to defense each turn, and negate its effects as well. That alone should not have been enough to slow Adamant down, except in this case apparently.

"If your reason was anger. Why direct this at me, Independent Guild?" Kyle's stern face had been twisted by rage so suddenly that even Adamant took notice. "You have to ask me that? Doesn't my face look familiar to you?" Kyle leaned forward to give his opponent a good look. Adamant's silence was the answer. "Maybe not, we didn't look that much alike. But these cards, you should know them. They took you on in the past!" Kyle shouted. "That is possible. But I have seen many decks and many duelists. If you belived I could remember a single instance, you were hoping for the impossible." Adamant stated and then he slumped back against the bench. "Don't you dare!" Kyle normal summoned U.A. Midfielder again. He activated the effect of U.A. Stadium after that; adding a U.A. Mighty Slugger monster to his hand. "Come!" He then switched the Midfielder with the Mighty Slugger, summoning the ultra batter(5/2300/700) in attack position. Both the Slugger(2800/700) and the Blockbacker(2600/2700) received another boost of power from U.A. Stadium. "Don't you dare tell me that you forgot! If you did, I will hit you until your mind relives every part of it!" Kyle switched Blockbacker to attack mode.

"Icarus Attack." Adamant reacted while his opponent was moments away from declaring his attacks. "Your set card and your Blocker." He did not explain what his trap was for, everyone present would know already. "Oh no!" Alice had dealt with that trap herself. A winged beast was sacrificed so that Icarus Attack could destroy two cards on the field. Fuzzy Lanius burst into flames and crashed into U.A. Blockbacker. The bird kept going after the destruction of Kyle's monster, and it blew up a trap card as well; U.A. Penalty Box. Adamant improved his own numbers as well. Since Fuzzy Lanius' effect activated upon its death. Adamant could use it to add a second Fuzzy Lanius Raidraptor from his deck to his hand. "Rghh! I still have one monster left!" Mighty Slugger threw an electric ball in the air and slammed his bat into it. The ball phased through Adamant and the walls of the rollercoasters ticket booth. "Did you feel that?" The assault had only just begun.

Adamant's LP: 5800

"Feel? How can he feel anything. They are just holograms?" Some of the duelists who were watching the duel naturally considered Kyle to be slightly less than sane. "He knows what I'm talking about!" Kyle overheard their babbling and gave them a piece of his fury too. "Yeah but we don't. What are you talking about? What did Adamant do?" Emily was fed up with everyone talking like they were swapping inside jokes. If this guy wanted sympathy, he was not doing it right. "I... I know you two." Kyle had been too focused on his true enemy making it take this long to recognize the two girls he had seen at the Casino. "You're the new ones." Kyle placed a trap card down. He also switched out U.A. Mighty Slugger to let U.A. Goalkeeper the Ultra goalie(6/1000/2800) summon himself in defense mode. "Millions are watching.. millions of innocents. They have to.. I have to.. I'll tell you and every other person who has to know! This is about the XYZ-guild ...and my brother."

"Your brother?" Alice remembered Kyle mentioning him before, how he was the sportsman of the two. "What happened to him?"

"He was hurt; put into a coma, by that man!" He dramatically pointed at Adamant. Gasps erupted from the mob, including several XYZ-duelists. "What nonsense are you spewing?" The only one who was not reacting loudly in any way, was the accused. Adamant was primarily offended. "My brother, James Warren, he was a member of your guild. Though he was my older brother, people always said how much we looked alike. I was the student, he was the athlete. He joined your guild because he felt he had to master every game and every sport. We were fine living like that. Except then, one day, I found him in a hospital, with no explanation of what happened. He just lied there on life-support, with inexplicable bruises. It looked as if he had been attacked. The doctors told me they did not know if he would ever wake up again! Nobody could tell me what happened! I had to find the truth myself! I looked and I found you, Adamant."

"To me." The XYZ-leader scoffed. "Yes. I found out that my brother was last seen in one of your facilities. He left his dueldisk and cards there, the same cards that you are seeing on this field right now! He would never leave his stuff behind, so whatever happened to him happened in that place. I had my own theory on what was done to James, I heard rumors from other duelists about dueldisks that could make monsters 'real'." Kyle hit the side of his disk. "A duel like that would explain Jame's wounds. Of course I couldn't get any straight answers from your guild, and they told me that you would never see me unless I joined. I was never going to join one of your guilds. The law wouldn't help me either. So this was my only chance to get to you, to expose you in public as the monster that you are!" Kyle activated one more effect. He banished U.A. Penalty Box from the graveyard, which was required for the trap to take a U.A. Spell from his deck. Kyle added a U.A. Signing Deal spell card to his hand. "You're going to reveal everything that you and your corrupt guild have done in the name of power!" He ended the turn.

"That's quite a story." Adamant remarked calmly once Kyle paused to catch his breath. "But it says nothing to me. Your brother, if I ever met him, has already been erased from my memories. And you will be erased too, once your last lifepoint falls."

(To be Continued in Annex 039: Justice must be Taken)

 **New Cards used by Kyle Warren  
** U.A. Midfielder  
U.A. Blockbacker  
U.A. Goalkeeper

-  
Terraforming  
U.A. Stadium

 **New Cards used by Adamant  
** Icarus Attack


	39. Justice must be Taken

**Annex 039: Justice must be Taken**

Adamant's LP: 5200 Kyle's LP: 8000

"My turn." Adamant drew his card. "If you made me your target, I trust you to at least have done your homework and on my previous duels. The following moves should be unsurprising. I summon Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius." Adamant called out his mechanical blue and green bird(4/1300/1600). With its summon, another Raidraptor could follow it from the hand. "..Raidraptors Mimicry Lanius and Fuzzy Lanius." A new raidraptor was special summoned with the effect of Vanishing Lanius. Mimicry Lanius was a yellow/purple mechanical bird(4/1100/1900) with a large radar dish for a tail. Another Fuzzy Lanius(4/500/1500) could special summon itself as long as a Raidraptor was already on the field. "Of course I know about you! I know your ace, Raidraptor Rise Falcon! It can't harm me!" Kyle only had one defending monster, U.A. Goalkeeper(6/1000/2800). High defense was the best way to combat Rise Falcon, who could only steal attackpoints. "...Then you have not seen all there is. Otherwise you would know to be afraid." Adamant chained a continuous trap card to his own summon.

 _Raid Raptor - Lock Chain, Continuous Trap  
_ _Once per turn, if a "Raidraptor" is special summoned to your side of the field: you can change the battle positions of all monsters your opponent controls.  
_ _If a monster(s) is special summoned from the extra deck, while you control a "Raidraptor" monster card, you can switch that monster to face-up or face-down defense position._

Lock Chain, in conjunction with Fuzzy Lanius' special summon, affected the Goalkeeper and forced him into an attacking stance. "It is not time for XYZ-monsters yet." Sooner than expected, Adamant started his battle phase. Vanishing Lanius flew across the stadium and towards the Goalie. "I was ready for that too! Trap card: Battleguard Howling!" The Ultra Athlete howled loudly at the incoming Raidraptor. The Battleguard trap would send a monster that attacked a warrior like Goalkeeper, back to a players hand. But first it would inflict damage equal to the attacking monsters attackpoints. "Swallows Nest." However if the target disappeared, then nothing would happen. Adamant activated a quickplay spell card from his hand to remove his attacker. "Sharp Lanius." Swallows Nest sacrificed Vanishing Lanius to special summon another level 4 winged beast from the deck; a red metallic bird(4/1700/1000) with a bladed beak and talons. "Continuing.." Sharp Lanius assumed the original path of attack, his target had stopped howling. "Damn it! I activate Goalkeeper's effect!" Even in attack mode, U.A. Goalkeeper could use its effect. It negated the destruction of one Athlete for one turn; itself in this instance. Though Sharp Lanius pierced the warriors knee deeply with its beak, the wound was not fatal.

Kyle's LP: 7300

Unfortunately, that wound was enough to trigger the effect of the attacker. "I bring back Vanishing Lanius." Raidraptor Sharp Lanius could special summon Raidraptors from the graveyard after it inflicted battle damage. Vanishing Lanius was now resummoned, so a fifth Raidraptor could be summoned from the hand if his master wished to use that effect again. "Sheesh. It's that easy for him?" Emily found it almost unbelievable how Adamant had gone from nothing to this. "Now it is time." At last, in the second main phase, Adamant performed his XYZ-summon. Except he only overlayed two monsters, Fuzzy Lanius and Sharp Lanius, and he summoned the new Raidraptor in defense mode. "Not Rise Falcon?" This was a card Kyle hadn't expected; a mechanical owl(4/100/2000). "Raidraptor Force Strix..." The duelist had to check his own dueldisk to see what it could do. "Force Strix gains 500 ATK and DEF for each other Winged Beast he controls. It can also detach a material to fetch a Level 4 DARK Winged Beast-Type monster." Force Strix(1100/300) powered up twice.

"Another Mimicry Lanius." Adamant used the effect of Force Strix to add a second Mimicry raidraptor to his hand. Vanishing Lanius allowed it(4/1100/1900) that bird to be summoned to the field. At the same time, Adamant used the effect of Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius that he had detached from his XYZ-monster. It searched and retrieved the third Fuzzy Lanius card from his deck. "Is this more in tune with what you expected?" At last the champion performed the final XYZ-summon. Both Mimicry Lanius raptors were placed on top of Vanishing Lanius. The three became XYZ-materials for the devastating winged beast of war; Raidraptor Rise Falcon(4/100/1000). "Go." Adamant removed one of the attached Mimicry Lanius cards to activate Rise Falcons effect. It copied the 1000 attackpoints from U.A. Goalkeeper and added it to its own energy reserves. Rise Falcon(1100/1000) would keep this power permanently. Still there was no end in sight, as Mimicry Lanius used its effect too. Because Adamant had sent it to the graveyard, Mimicry could add a Raidraptor card from Adamants deck to his hand. "Raidraptor Readiness!" He took a trap card. That card, along with another trap, was placed face-down. "That.. was my turn. Show me what you plan to do against this, Independent Guild."

"My name is Kyle. Kyle Warren! You may have forgotten my brother, but you will never forget me!" Kyle took his turn. He summoned U.A. Midfielder(4/1200/1000) back to his field. Since he had normal summoned a monster, U.A. Stadium would place a new Ultra Athlete in his hand. "Ultra Athlete Dreadnought Dunker!" Kyle took the baseball warrior. "He will tag in, along with Mighty Slugger!" Midfielder and Blockbacker returned to his hand to special summon the Ultra Slugger(5/2300/700) and Ultra Dunker(7/2500/1800) from Kyle's hand. "And I activate this spell, Ultra Athlete Signing Deal! To summon Ultra Athlete Perfect Ace! Signing Deal can 'sign' a new Ultra player to come in, if one was already out there on the field!" There were several downsides to this spell; that warriors effects would be negated, synchro and XYZ-summons could not be performed this turn and Kyle would lose 300 lifepoints for each of the summoned monsters levels. "Ngh." Because he brought out the winged cyber-pitcher(5/1500/2500), he lost 1500 lifepoints.

Kyle's LP: 5800

"I will tag Perfect Ace out for Rival Rebounder!" Each Athlete could only 'switch in' once a turn, but Kyle still had plenty of Ultra Athletes in his hand which he could call upon. The warrior that special summoned itself this time was another baseball player(6/2200/2300), the Rival to the Dreadnought Dunker. "This is my answer." Kyle used this special summon as the trigger for his field spells attack-boosting effect. The Dreadnought(3000/1800), the Rival(2700/2300) and the Mighty Slugger(2800/700) all gained strength from the stadiums cheers. "Dreadnought Dunker can destroy a monster one it inflicts damage, and it inflicts piercing damage!" Kyle explained it so that Adamant would know his intentions. "I have him attack your ace XYZ-monster!" Though Rise Falcon was in defense mode, an attack would damage Adamant and allow the Dreadnought to destroy Force Strix(600/2500) at the same time.

"Damn. He is so angry he doesn't even plan for the.." Uno knew there was no chance this attack was going to work. "Trap card." And Adamant proved him right. "Raidraptor Readiness." His raptor trap put up a forcefield. Raidraptors could not be destroyed as a result of battle this turn. "So what? The damage will still.." Adamant did not take the piercing damage either. "What?" Dreadnought Dunker's ball bounced backwards as it touched Rise Falcons wing. "You did not even notice that I banished Raidraptor Readiness from my graveyard? You truly are inexperienced, all you practice is power." The trap he used had a secondary effect if Raidraptors rested in the graveyard along with it. By banishing Raidraptor Readiness after use, it nullified all damage for an entire turn. "You will not hit me again unless I will it, Independent Guild." Adamant declared.

"Kyle. What are you even doing?" Emily shouted all of the sudden. "If you win, how is that going to expose him? You think Adamant is just gonna confess?" And that was _if_ Kyle won. Things did not go smoothly for him so far. "If I win, I will make him say what he did. If I have to lose, I will make it so that he has to push himself to use the card he used to attack my brother. I know how he did it. I always suspected it. But when that one guy attacked Dreamworld last week, I was certain of it. The power to make holograms real exists, and he has it too." Kyle placed set a card down in the spell/trap zone. "Perfect Ace, Midfielder, Blockbacker!" For his final act he called back his entire attack force and special summoned his weaker Athletes back in defense position with their respective effects. "I will force you to your limits, Champion!" His turn was over.

"You at least have the foresight to provide lesser prey for Rise Falcon." Adamants XYZ-monster couldn't do as much damage if he had fewer attackpoints to copy. "Yet you lack any other kind of rationality. Forget about a victory." He attempted to activate Force Strix's effect again, detaching its final XYZ-material.

"I wouldn't be so damn sure about that! I'm not gonna let you summon more Raidraptors!" To this Kyle could chain one of his monsters effects. "Perfect Ace! Stop Force Strix!" By discarding a card from his hand during the opponents turn, Perfect Ace could negate the monsters effect and destroy the monster itself. Mighty Slugger was discarded. The Ultra pitcher threw a sphere of lightning at the mechanical owl and shot it down from the skies. Unfortunately Perfect Ace could only do this once a turn. "You look to far ahead. You fail to acknowledge the threat already in front of you." Adamant could not be stopped when he activated his other XYZ-monster's effect. Another Mimicry Lanius was detached and Rise Falcon targeted Perfect Ace to add his 1500 attackpoints to itself(2600/1000). Adamant followed up his threat by special summoning the last Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius(4/500/1500) from his hand and reactivated Raidraptor Chain Lock. The continuous trap forced all Ultra Athletes into attack-mode. "Hmph.." Adamant sighed and ordered his monster to strike. Rise Falcon flew up, rising far above the stadium. It then shot back down like an earthshattering comet. Rise Falcon could attack each special summoned monster once.

"I didn't think you would fall for it so easily, champion!" Kyle bared his teeth and displayed the spell card he had set, a quickplay spell that could only be used if two or more U.A. monsters were on his field.. "Ultra Athlete Turnover Tactics! I will.." What he wanted to say was that Turnover Tactics would shuffle all monsters into the deck and then replace what he lost with that many different "U.A." monsters from the deck. Adamant wouldn't get to summon a monster himself, since Rise Falcon would go back to the extra deck. "Boring.." Adamant did not need or want to listen. He activated the countertrap Raptors Gust to negate and destroy U.A Turnover Tactics. "NO!" That spell was his best defense, and he shut it down like that. "Blockbacker!" The last thing Kyle could do was make the Blockbacker target U.A. Midfielder. At least that Athlete would survive the next wave of attacks. Blockbacker and Perfect Ace were blown to pieces by Rise Falcon and U.A. Midfielder received dozens of scorch marks. "You have not kept my interest, Independent Guild."

Kyle's LP: 2000

"Damn you. How can you treat duelists like this?" Kyle cursed. "You barely are a duelist. Those cards are like a suit you wear to pass yourself off as one." Adamant set a card in the spell/trap zone and ended his turn. "Damn it!" Kyle drew his card so roughly he nearly damaged it. "!." Kyle stopped. He realized he almost lost control there. "Kyle! That guy likes to get in people's heads! Just tune it out, or you will never get anywhere!" He finally started hearing the things Uno and the others were saying too. "You can do it. You're a duelist, you got this far!" Alice was cheering her on, a lot of people were. They wanted him to win. "You.. all of you." Kyle grabbed his left hand and steadied it. "Yes. I can do this. I can't let my brother down, and I also cannot let his cards down." The rage was still there, but he contain it for now. "I will tribute my monster to normal summon Rival Rebounder!" The Midfielder went to the graveyard and the rebounding Rival(2200/2300) was tribute summoned

Both U.A. Stadium and Rival Rebounder activated their effects at the same time. "Playmaker, I need you!" With his field spell, Kyle grabbed a new Ultra Athlete from his deck. "And you can come back to me, Mighty Slugger!" A normal summoned Rebounder always special summoned one U.A. monster from a players hand or graveyard. The Athlete with the mighty bat(2300/700) was the one who came back to the sportfield. His effect would stop whatever card Adamant tried to activate during his attacks. "You have done enough, Rival Rebounder! Trade with Playmaker!" Kyle swapped the Rival out to special summon the football passer(8/2600/2000). This summon was what U.A. Stadium responded to and the Playmaker(3100/2000) enjoyed a nice powerboost along with the Slugger(3300/700) "This is how it will end, Adamant! With this spell card; U.A. Powered Jersey!" A heavy cybernetic uniform jersey was placed on Mighty Slugger's body. "The Jersey will add 1000 attack and defense points to my Ultra Athlete, and he can attack twice in one turn!" One could literally see the energy crackle throughout the warrior(3800/1700)'s body. "And if he fights a monster, all battle damage will be doubled!"

"I attack!" Mighty Slugger would make the first move. The plan was simple. Kill Rise Falcon, kill Fuzzy Lanius, have Playmaker attack directly for the win. "I activate Playmakers effect!" During the attack, the other Athlete(2500/2000) passed his football of light to Mighty Slugger. "Playmaker can give 800 of his own attackpoints to another Ultra Athlete during the battle phase!" The Slugger(4800/1700) took the ball and slung it far away with his bat. It was hit so hard that it broke through the soundbarrier. It blasted upwards and ripped Rise Falcons left wing off cleanly. The remaining damage was doubled and fell unto the XYZ-duelist. "What did you say again, Adamant? Looks like I did get a hit in after all!"

Adamant's LP: 800

"..." It was at this moment, that Adamant did something unexpected. He stood up. "Aha!" A grin appeared on Kyle's face. "I did it! You see it now, I've beaten you!" Adamant had to be acknowledging Kyle's triumphant move, if he did this. "...Rank-Up-Magic." But that wasn't it. Adamant only rose so he could end things. "Raptors Force!" He activated the set quickplay spell card in between Mighty Sluggers attacks. It could not be negated then. "Rank-Up?" What happened next was a completely new experience to Uno and the rest. "Is this what Aaron was talking about?" They had seen XYZ-monsters rank themselves up. They had not seen spells that could force Rank-evolution, during the opponents turn at that. "If a Raidraptor Xyz Monster was destroyed this turn, you can use 1 Raidraptor XYZ-monster in the graveyard as a material to XYZ-summon a Raidraptor of the next rank." The info was all there on the big screen. "Then.." Rise Falcon turned fiery hot. Minutes before it crashed against the ground, it transformed and flew back up. "Raidraptor Blaze Falcon!" A new XYZ-Raidraptor was placed on top of it; a red-steel Falcon(5/1000/2000).

"Rise Falcon wasn't your ace?" Kyle took a step back. "So what?" He managed to gather his nerves before he took another. "It's just another target!" It would not make it to the next round once Mighty Slugger dealt with it. "You still do not mind your surroundings, Independent Guild. Your monsters cannot attack." Mighty Slugger and Playmaker switched themselves to defense mode. "What!? That trap!" Raidraptor Lock Chain had caused this. Adamant had special summoned a Raidraptor after all. "This is it then.." Kyle had nowhere to run and no monster to turn to. "The End." He did not care. "..Yes, it is. In the end you could only reach the fifth rank. Pitiful." Adamant spat. He detached one material from Blaze Falcon. "Burn it all." Blaze Falcon could destroy every other special summoned monster on the opponents field and inflict 500 points of damage for each casualty. The Falcon fired every laser cannon in its wings and blasted Playmaker and Mighty Slugger with them. The violent explosions caught them and the fire spread across the field and U.A. Stadium. It was a literal blaze.

Kyle's LP: 1000

. "Yes. This is how it has to be." Kyle closed his eyes and spread his arms. He waited for Blaze Falcons direct attack. "I'll be with you, Carl." Yet when Blaze Falcon came, with its metallic talons striking down upon the duelist, he felt nothing. "...where.." The second he lost his remaining lifepoints, all holograms were dismissed. The stadium crumbled away to reveal the rollercoaster in pristine order. The fire had vanished along with Blaze Falcon, it was never real. "Where did it go!?"

Kyle's LP: 0

"Why didn't you.." It hadn't happened the way he wanted. This did not prove anything. "Hmph." The enemy was just walking away, this was just another duel he would forget. "NO!" Kyle suddenly pulled a dinnerknife out of his pocket and ran towards adamant. But he was disarmed and knocked down by two other XYZ-duelists who jumped in to guard their leader. "It can't go like this! You can't walk way from me.. from my brother!" He screamed. With his free hand he grabbed Adamant by the leg. "Pathetic. You could not defeat me fairly, so you resorted to this. What would your brother think of you now?" Adamant scoffed and kicked the leg away. "Take him to security. This is their concern." His men obeyed and dragged Kyle off, flailing and shouting all the way.

"Man. All that talk and he was just another nut." Most duelists who watched the duel were disappointed. The story that Kyle started out with looked like the ramblings of a deluded madman now. "... That poor guy. To lose your family like that.." Alice could sympathize. Anyone could go insane in those conditions. Though was he crazy? That was what Uno wanted to know. "Cassius said something about this too, didn't he? Experimenting with hologram technology to make it real." Something like that had terrifying applications. "Yeah. Maybe it wasn't Dreamworld. Maybe it was those guys who developed that kind of stuff. Heck, they already act like an army." The thought scared her, but Emily could see the XYZ-guild try to make the duel monsters into a weapon. "And Adamant as their commander." Kyle never stood a chance. This Adamant was on a whole other level of dueling; no wasted moves, incredible summoning speed, and limitless adaptation. "One way or another, the guild has not shown its full power yet."

(To be Continued in Annex 040: Neither here nor There)

 **New Cards used by Adamant  
** Raid Raptor - Mimicry Lanius  
Raid Raptor - Sharp Lanius

-  
Raid Raptor - Force Strix  
Raid Raptor - Blaze Falcon

-  
Rank-Up-Magic: Raptors Force

 _-  
Raid Raptor - Lock Chain (+)  
_Raid Raptor - Readiness

 _(+ Heavily modified version of the trap used by Shun in Arc-V episode 75)_

 **New Cards used by Kyle  
** U.A. Rival Rebounder  
U.A. Playmaker

-  
U.A. Signing Deal  
U.A. Turnover Tactics  
U.A. Powered Jersey

-  
Battleguard Howling


	40. Neither here nor There

**Annex 040: Neither here nor There**

"Kyle Warren has been detained, sir. He is held up at the security station cells." Iria's reports of the hour concerned the fate of the duelist who fell to Adamant. "Can we do that? Think of what that man must have gone through.." Zach had his own things to say about this event. "He stole a knife from the park-restaurant and hid it. That is enough reason to believe he is a threat to the people around him. We need to increase our security. I will not waste time debating the lasting effects of traumatic past experiences; they are no excuse." They could legally hold him for 48 hours without charges. It all depended on what the assaulted, Adamant, would say. So far he had not claimed any interest in the case. "Hmm. You know. Crazy or not, that Kyle was on to something." All this time the master had been focusing on one aspect of that confrontation. "What if they figured out how to create solid-vision." This was what mattered most to him. "Sir, even if they did, their dueldisks would have records of such events." Iria reassured. "Indeed. They could not have achieved such results without you." Zach added. It was the Master himself who had designed all the failsafes. If one was ever broken, another would take its place. "Ah you two know what to say. Still, I'd bet my villa that that guild is trying something."

"Speaking of Guilds. What's the latest on fusion?" Dom did not just call Zach in to hear his opinions on Kyle. "Stonewell says he didn't see or hear anything that would violate our rules. Looking at the results, it does not seem like the Fusion Guild threw any of their matches, or bribed any of their opponents." In the past there had been moments where that guild was suspected of fixing duels in questionable ways, because there was usually someone making money of it in the gambling circles. They just could never find a connection. "Dame Phoebe's victory was authentic too. I would know." Zach definitely had been giving it his best effort in round one. "And did you let him know that his associates are aware of his role now?" Iria inquired. "His friends you mean. No, I didn't. I may not agree with it, but I follow my orders." Zach had been told to not inform Eric of what Dom had said to his friends earlier today. Dom claimed Erics act would be more natural that way. "It's for his own good. Those guilds have eyes and ears everywhere. You don't want them to notice anything."

...

That same evening, as they sat on the bed in their hotelroom, Emily and Uno failed to escape the maze of thoughts in their heads. Cassius could not be visited during the evening hours and Uno had to wait for the next match before he could make any progress with Dom or his pendant. "Guys. Don't look so sad." The only one with any spirit left was Alice. "It's not tomorrow yet, there's so many hours left before that.. You shouldn't let them get away by being all mopey. We could do something else, like watch a movie!" She tried to cheer up the place a little and turned the TV on. "See. There is so much fun stuff on! Uno, do you want to see anything?" Alice gave Uno a full dose of her impossible-to-resist stare. "...I dunno.. I haven't seen a lot." He had no specific memory of a movie, nor did anything he watched on TV lately feel familiar in any way. "Ah yeah. In that case you gotta see this one!" Alice zapped the remote until she found the comedy she wanted to show them. "It's so good! Every one should see it at least once in their life!" With a glowing recommendation like that, Uno could hardly say no. "Eh. Fine." Emily gave in as well. They didn't have anything else to do. Why worry about the future when it wouldn't change anything?

...

The third day rolled in. The third round would begin at 10 AM. And Dom had added yet another twist to the bracket. He threw out the mystery and posted the matchups in advance this time. Whether that was due to Uno's deal with him, Kyle causing a scare the day before, or other more elusive reasons; the endresult was that the sixteen remaining duelists now knew what to prepare for. It did not change much for them, most guild duelists sided in cards for specific opponents anyway. Each deck was now known to the other, and the core could not be switched out. Three independent duelists, two synchro duelists, five fusion duelists and six XYZ duelists; those were the people competing for a spot in the quarterfinals. And Alice was up first, against someone from the Fusion guild. Uno would follow right after her, against Neter. Dom was at least not keeping him waiting for long.

The day also brought another new addition to the fold. "Mom!" The woman whom Alice greeted with overjoyed energy in every encounter. "You made it!" Heather showed up at the lobby of their hotel in the morning. "Of course. Yes I ran a little late because of traffic, but this place was not hard to find." She gave both her daughters a hug. "Nice to see you too, mom." Emily did not mind this time. "Now if only dad could complete the picture." She would not mind James doing the doting he always did when he tried to make her feel better. Just these few days and she already missed that kind of intimacy. "So do I, honey. Honestly I can't believe it is harder for him to get a day off than it is for me. The strings I had to pull.. well I won't let the details drag this day down." She was here for the family, and their friends. "Good morning Uno. It is still Uno, right?" Mrs brandt said carefully. "Still is." Uno grinned. "There's nothing wrong with that. I'm sure my real name can't be half as exciting." Uno was used to hearing it. He liked it. UNO would just have accept a namesake in his world.

"I see. So what were you going to do next? Were you headed to see Aaron?" Their mother asked. "We were going to the theater actually. The dueling is gonna start any minute now." Alice had to go on stage, so they could not really afford a detour. "Well then, we should better hurry. Lead the way."

"A HAPPY THIRD DAY TO YOU ALL, TRAVELERS AND FIGHTERS! AND WELCOME BACK TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS DUEL THEATER. Dreamworld has got plenty of stunners in store for you this turn around! Only the cream of crop has made it to this point! Who knows what can happen when great forces like theirs meet on the stage. I certainly don't. But I am going to give them all the flair they deserve! So keep this factoid in mind, this theater was not just for those who came to listen to music. This was a place for all media, for all types of visuals. From here on in you will see dueling that you cannot get anywhere else!"

"Well well, Dom still has money to burn." Uno shook his head. At least he didn't seem to be the only one to marvel at this world's love for dueling anymore. "My, he certainly is into this." Mrs. Brandt heard Dom for the first time here. The stories about him were not exaggerated. "Now where are we supposed to sit?" She did not exactly have a ticket, nor was she a duelist. "I think Dom makes exceptions for relatives. He should. So stay with us mom." The lower ring was a lot emptier today. It had room for one more person. While they headed over there, Dom started calling for the first two duelists to step up. "That's me. I'm gonna go for it!" Alice waved her hand and went on her merry way. "Have fun, sweetheart!" Her mother cried out after her. "She looks radiant. I am glad that this turned out to be good for her." Heather had allowed this to happen in the first place. Her daughter did better than she or Emily expected. "Yeah." Emily sighed. There was still the fact that Alice did not seem to be enjoying her duels as much as she did before. Maybe today would be different with more family to watch her.

And the difference between round one and round two became as clear as day as soon as the duel actually began. Alice took the first turn. And as soon as she used her ritual spells to ritual summon Nekroz of Unicore, the theater used every visual enhancer embedded in the walls to broadcast a three-dimensional image of the monster in the open area above the ring. "Wowwww." The card looked every bit as real as the standard dueldisk projections, even with the dramatic increase in size. Now the audience did not need to look at the big screen the follow the actions, they could just watch the holograms directly. "Oh..Hi!" And the duelists themselves occasionally popped in as well. A ten feet Alice happily waved at the crowd. "Definitely a lot of money to burn." Heather had a short laugh. She did not imagine that this would be how she saw her daughter duel. "Yes, Dom was not kidding." Uno was not even surprised anymore at this point. He would enjoy dueling and watching duels like this.. if he could.

 _With every second, slowly but surely, the world grew silent around Uno. "What?" It felt like he was blacking out, but he wasn't. Every person around him turned into a blur, rapidly moving while standing still. Their words were inaudible, their colors were washed out. The only sounds he could distinguish were coming from close by. "It is happening?" He grabbed his own pendant, it did its lightgiving trick again. What was it saying? He held it against his ear to make out the sentences. There was a lot of mumbling, female and male voices arguing. However one voice came through clearly, it asked a familiar question and expanded upon it. "Hey. From one timetraveler to another, do you believe in fate?" Rapidly, the world normalized. The colors and noise flooded his senses. "Guh!"_

"Uno? Earth to Uno?" Emily repeatedly called out to him. "Emily?" His reactions were slowed, but they were there. "What..what did I miss?" Everything was the same, except for the duel on stage. Just a second ago, Alice had summoned her monster. Now she was finishing off someone's lifepoints. The fight could not have gone that quickly, could it? "Did I go anywhere?" Uno was only in that confused state for less than a minute. The giant clock on the screens told him that 12 minutes had passed. Had he zoned out, did he forget what happened in the last 10 minutes? Or did he, actually, move through time? That voice put that thought in his head. "No?" Emily had not noticed anything going on with Uno, because she had been too focused on her sisters match. The same applied to her mother. "Are you well, Uno? Do you need medical attention?" She had not forgotten that he was an amnesiac. Complications in someone's mind would naturally arise from time to time. "It's fine. It is." Uno lied. He had no idea what just happened to him. Did Dom pick up on it? Did he really monitor everything about the pendant? Uno would have to tell him. First though, he would have to finish his duel. "I'm up."

Uno's entire situation had escaped Alice's notice because of her duel. Now that it was over, she didn't want to miss talking with Uno so she waited until she saw him leave his seat. "Hi-Hi, Miss." Uno's opponent crossed her path first however. "That was a really really cool duel. I liked it." Neter had walked in from the same path. "Oh uhm..thank you!" The kid sure seemed polite. "No problem. I like your guild's name too. Oddball.. better than mine; the Zodiac Duelists. You know, maybe I can join yours? Not now of course, but in the future." The kid requested, a bit indirectly. "Join? You want that? Oh I don't know how that works. I'll have to ask Uno and Dom." Alice wasn't sure she would keep doing this guild-stuff after this tournament. Yet she did not want to let him down either. "Sure, sure. I wish I could just make later happen now." Neter put on a wide grin. "But I think its gonna happen, it is _fate_ perhaps."

"Huh?" Alice appeared surprised. But at the same time Uno had shown up and his reaction was ten times more intense. " _What_ did you say?"

"Uno! I.. Are you okay?" Alice caught on to his disturbed state right away. _"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"_ Uno thought to himself. "It's nothing." He lied again. "Hi-Hi mister Uno! I was just kidding you know? People can choose their own futures, right?" Neter meanwhile passed his statement of as something innocent. It could have been. Uno believed the opposite. He knew what coincidences were, and this was not one of them. "Alice. You did great on the duel. I'll take it from here." There were strange things at work here. No matter what happened next, he wanted her to stay away from Neter. "O..kay." Though she did not understand, she listened. "Good luck." She went back to her family. They would not give her much clarity either. _"You could have said something, Uno. To put them at ease at least. Do you want people to worry?"_ Uno thought it was the way it was. Nothing could be changed now. He was here to duel, and he wouldn't walk away from it now. "Neter. Let's duel." He activated his dueldisk.

Neters LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"Eehhhh. That's a weirdlooking disk. I've never seen one of those before." Neter stared in awe. The kids own dueldisk was the most basic model one could imagine, hardly any duelists used it nowadays. At least it could still be used. "Yay! I get the first turn!" Neter drew five cards. "I should..wait no.." He placed one of them face-down in a spell/trap zone. "Wait, yes!" Then he normal summoned a monster, Satellarknight Alsahm(4/1400/1800). "Probably not your constellation, but who cares? It has a neat effect!" Alsahm put an arrow on its bow and fired it at Uno. A summoned Alsahm inflicted 1000 points of damage to the opponent. "Bye-bye Lifepoints!" The arrow went straight through Uno's head. "..." It might have been a visual effect, Uno was still weirded out by it. "Constellation?" The kid had an odd choice of words as well. Alsahm, like all Tellarknights, derived his name from actual star constellations. "Yeah, like the Zodiac! I like that kind of stuff. Especially Scorpio, that is my zodiac.. and it's my favorite! Hey-hey, Uno. What's yours?"

Uno's LP: 7000

"..I don't know." He answered truthfully. "Ehhhhh? How come?" Neter seemed puzzled by the revelation. Everyone with a birthdate had a constellation.. except those who had forgotten. "I do not remember when I was born." Uno told him. He was stunned he could even be so open about it. Then again, he wanted to see what this kid had to say about it. "Really? That's so sad. You don't have a birthday either then! It has got to be weeeeird to wake up and suddenly be as old as you are. It's like.. heehee.. you skipped ahead 16 years." Of all possible responses, ridicule was the last things Uno saw coming. "You..think this is funny?" This kid was laughing at him, right to his face. "Oh I'm sorry. It's just so ... easy all this time." The laughter did not stop. "You're not making any sense." Uno would have felt some anger if he knew what Neter was talking about. "Oh. yeah, I get that. Maybe this will help?" Neter rolled up his sleeves and revealed two golden armbands around his wrists. "What..." A jewel was embedded in each band, the same kind of jewel his pendant held.

"What?! You.. you have the same.." Uno touched his pendulum pendant. "Yup! You got it!" Neter clapped his hands together. Like he wanted to applaud him. "How? Why? What are they?" Uno was nowhere near patient enough to play along for answers, not this time. "You don't know that either? You forgot all the cool stuff! It's how we can be where we are, Uno. When we are. It's no wonder the others couldn't do anything with you around. Your pendulum had them confused." While Neters story raised more questions than answers, It did make one thing very clear. "The Others? You're one of them!" This kid was with June and August. "You did this to me, didn't you? You tried to do the same just now? You took my past away!" It was them, it was always them. "Uhh. I never met you before, Uno. I don't know how you got one of our pendulums either."

"Don't lie to me!" Uno shouted. He sensed a side of himself that he had never visited before. Anger took over. "I'm tired of being the only one to know nothing! I will make you tell me who I used to be, or I will end you! DRAW!"

Dom could halfway make out what was said down below. Uno's dueldisk was not picking up Neters words that well. "Times like these, I wish I could have just installed listening devices in every dueldisk. Damned privacy laws." That would have helped their investigation into Neters identity, an investigation he ran on his computers as soon as he saw what was happening. "Sir. The machines definitely are picking up the same activity again." Iria gave more information from her end as well. "Oh good. Then I'm not going mad. There is another one of those gems out there." The cameras spotted them, but Dom did not believe in it until now. "This could potentially be dangerous, sir. We should quarantine the two duelists." Neter was not coming after her master yet. Nevertheless Iria wanted to be on the safer-than-sorry side. "No. Let it play out. If we dont, we may never figure out what the heck is going on." He pulled up a screen to get a live feed of the energy output. They were finally getting powerful readings. "Huh.. That is a new one." The levels spiked higher than ever, as Uno drew his sixth card.

"Spell card, Pendulum Call!" The card that was drawn was also the card he played. "I discard one card to add two different 'Magician' Pendulum monsters from my deck to my hand!" Pendulum Call took Performapal Hip Hippo away and replaced it with Timegazer and Stargazer Magician. "Set the scales!" Uno made his next move without flair, boasts or doubts. The scale 1 and scale 8 Pendulum monsters were placed in their Pendulum zones and Uno proceeded with a Pendulum summon. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The red dragon(7/2500/2000) came out roaring, it was as hungry for battle as his master. "Ohhh. You're playing the role of the monster now, eh?" Neter laughed once more. "Or maybe you're starting to remember that you were one.."

(To be Continued in Annex 041: The Exiled Cipher)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Pendulum Call


	41. The Exiled Cipher

**Annex 041: The Exiled Cipher**

"Well mark me down as confused." If his mask allowed it, Dom would spat out the juice he was drinking. "Pendulum Call was not in his deck. It wasn't even on the release schedule." He could accept Uno getting his hands on unreleased cards, but he could not accept Uno getting more in the middle of a duel. Uno had shown all his cards to them before, that spell was not one of them. "It is the same as it was in the Casino, sir." Iria had seen this phenomenon before with Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "The records were altered during the duel. Look." She pulled up Uno's current decklist which claimed that Pendulum Call had always been a part of his deck. "The only way I can explain this is if his dueldisk has the capability to print existing cards during a session." The only other explanations exceeded manmade technology, and she was not going to open that can of worms. "But.. we found no such hardware in the one we retrieved earlier. It is uncertain.."

...

Neters LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 7000

"You'll give me everything you took; my family, my friends! You will return it to me!" Uno roared. There was an anger burning inside him, greater than any fit he could remember experiencing. He could not control it, nor did he want too. The anger felt right, and good. "I'll tell you whatever I want, if you can tag me!" Neter was mocking him still, wagging his finger as he flipped his face-down quickplay spell card. "Stellarknight Skybridge! Target a tellarknight; special summon a tellarknight" monster with a different name from the deck, and shuffle the targeted monster into the deck. While the monster summoned by this effect blah blah blah. I get to switch knights, that's what matters!" Satellarknight Alsahm(4/1400/1800) flew up to to the great light-bridge in the skies, heading towards the distant star. A new female stellarknight(4/1500/1000) took his place. "I special summoned Deneb.. she.." This monster was smashed by the charging Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000) instead. Uno did not wait for explanations. "Oh, you got her. But you missed me." The Satellarknight had been special summoned in defense mode, so her destruction cost Neter nothing. "You're still it!"

"This is not a game!" Uno cursed as he ended his turn. "Looks like one. It has cards, pretty cards. What makes this not a game; The stakes? Boring! Just show me more dragons.." Neter added a card to his hand first. "Oh, right. It's gonna be my turn. Welp! What I wanted to say; Satellarknight Deneb adds a new Tellarknight to my hand whenever she is normal or special summoned. I took this lady, Vega." Then Neter shuffled his deck, an act he seemed to enjoy a lot, and drew his next card for his drawphase. "I summon her!" Satellarknight Vega(4/1200/1600) was a more mature priestlike warrior in white. "If she is summoned, she can summon a different Tellarknight from my hand! Soooo, you saw Altair before I hope?" Vega used her power to call Satellarknight Altair(4/1700/1300) from Neters hand. Altair could in turn revive a fallen Tellarknight. "Yeah, Deneb again! Let's do that!" The angel warrior special summoned the star warrior out of the graveyard. This time Neter used her effect to add a Satellarknight Rigel from his deck to his hand.

"The three stars of the summer triangle!" Neter had his three level 4 monsters. "XYZ-time!" He overlayed them. Vega, Altair and Deneb were attached to the summer star paladin, Stellarknight Delteros(4/2500/2100). "Yeah its attackpoints arent as good as your dragons now.. so what if I do this?" Neter also activated a field spell card. " Hexatellarknight!" A six-sided energy field was placed between the two duelists, and between the rings of the theater. Three of its points contained radiant energy. "My Stellarknight gets 200 attackpoints for each of his XYZ-materials!" Delteros spread his wings and passed through the barrier. He(3100/2100) absorbed some of its energy into his sword and used that to cleanly cut Odd-Eyes Dragons head off. "Oh and.. wanna know what Delteros can do for an effect?" Neter detached one material from his XYZ-monster. Delteros(2900/2100) placed that energy in his shield and fired a triangular beam that destroyed the Stargazer Magician in Uno's pendulum zone. "That!" Delteros could destroy any face-up card once a turn.

Uno's LP: 6400

"You think you can shut down my pendulum summons?" Timegazers scale dropped from 8 to 4. Both Stargazer and Odd-Eyes had gone to his extra deck and Uno had no way of summoning them back to the field now. Unless he forced a way. "I will get what I want, Neter." As soon as Neter ended his turn, he sprung into action. "In my blue zone, I set Performapal Trump Witch!" A brand new pendulum was activated, a masked witch girl with a paintbrush for a wand. "What're you gonna do with that?" Her scale was 4 too, Neter didn't see any summons happening like this. "Plenty! I activate Pendulum Shift to raise Timegazer's scale!" The scale-shifting quickplay spell came into play. It reformed Timegazer into a scale 8 card for this turn. "Pendulum.. Summon!" Now Uno could resummon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and call out Stargazer Magician(5/1200/2400) along his side. That was all normal so far. His next on the other hand was new for the audience, and he performed it like it was his second nature. "Now I will fuse them!"

"Ehhh, fusion?" Neter blinked as the Magician and the dragon were mixed together by a polymerizing vortex. "Yes! Performapal Trump Witch can fuse monsters on the field once, if she is set in my pendulum zone!" For this Uno did not need Polymerization. "Odd-Eyes, when fused with a spellcaster, becomes Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The dragon transformed into its runic more mechanical form(8/3000/2500), an eyepatch covered one of its asynchronous eyes. "Because one of his materials was a pendulum monster on my field, he's immune to all effects this turn!" Neters face-down cards would not slow it down, much less stop it. "Wow. That's awesome. Buuut.. are you unaffected too?" The opponent asked all of the sudden. "What?" Uno did not get the time to contemplate the question as Neter flipped his trap card; Threatening Roar. "No!" Threatening Roar barred Uno from declaring any attacks this turn.

"You cannot keep this up!" Uno placed a card down and ended his turn. Sooner or later, his defenses would have to crumble. "Maybe. Still, a short turn. Your dragon isn't immune anymore. I guess time keeps on slipping by, hahahaha!" In his turn, Neter detached another XYZ-material from Stellarknight Delteros. Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon would be its next target. "Will it be funny if the same happens to you?" Uno responded with his trap. "Misdirection Wing! I make my monster stronger and negate the effect of yours!" The golden ring on the dragons back lit up with purple flames. The fire expanded like wings and wrapped around Neters XYZ-monster. "Awwww. Mean!" Delteros was utterly helpless now. Neter had to switch it to defense position to safely end his turn. "I didn't hear you laughing that time, Neter!"

 _Misdirection Wing, Normal Trap_  
 _Activate only if you control only 1 monster, negate an effect activated by 1 card your opponent controls, then target your monster: until the end of this turn, it gains 800 ATK._  
 _During your turn, you can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 monster you control; until the end of this turn, it gains 800 ATK._

"Is it normal for duels to be this intense?" Heather, like everyone else, could tell how furious Uno was. This was nothing like the games she always saw her daughters play when they were younger. "Some of them are.." Emily had to admit. She had been in a few herself. "But he isn't normally like this!" Alice defended Uno, despite the fact that she did not understand what had brought about this change in his attitude. "He knows duels are meant to be fun, to make people happy." This duel was not making him happy now, Uno was rushing through his turns. "That Neter kid. I don't think he is your run-of-the-mill duelist." Emily had seen those jewels on his wristbands. If her guess was right, then Cassius had been right as well. It was not safe here.

"So that is why UNO made that." Dom spoke about yet another card that paradoxically revealed itself to be a part of Uno's deck. "Sir?" Iria detected a hint of realization in her masters words. "Our UNO, he made the Performapals. He even made that Trump Witch card. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why a pendulum effect supported fusions. Now I do.. It makes you wonder.. how many more has UNo made?"

Back at the duel, Uno drew his next card. "Attack, Rune-Eyes!" What he wanted to see now, was the destruction of everything on Neters field. "Aye!" However Neter countered it with the second effect of his field spell. "I discard Rigel." Hexatellarknight could negate attacks that were intended for XYZ-Tellarknights, at the cost of a Tellarknight in his hand. "Another miss!" The forcefield stopped the dragons teeth as it was mere inches away from its prey. "It's useless! I made Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from a level 5 spellcaster. It can attack monsters three times in a turn! Again!" Rune-Eyes tried another attack. "Missed me again!" Neter slapped the dragon away by discarding a Satellarknight Capella from his hand. The Hexatellar barrier could keep going as long as there were cards to throw away. "That was your last!" Which Neter did not have anymore; his hands were empty. "Destroy it. Kill it!" With the third attack, Rune-Eyes finally managed to defeat Stellarknight Delteros. With one blow, the star triangle paladin was smashed into stardust.

"Hahah. That still doesn't count as a hit though." Neter shook his head. "It's not even gonna help you. Nope." When Neter put his XYZ-monster in the graveyard he read its effect out loud. "If Delteros is sent from the field to the graveyard: You can special summon one Tellarknight from your hand or deck." His wide smile came back as he used Delteros' effect to special summon a second Satellarknight Altair(4/1700/1300) from his deck. "Damn it." Naturally, and much to Uno's frustration, Neter used Altair's effect to special summon Satellarknight Deneb out of the graveyard. Consequently, Deneb's effect added a Satellarknight Sirius card from Neters deck to Neters hand. "I set a card in the spell/trap zone, end turn!" Though Uno had managed to get rid of one XYZ-monster. Neter now had new materials for another.

"Okey-dokey! Go, Satellarknight Sirius!" Another knight(4/1600/900) in full-body gold and silver armor showed up to join Deneb and Altair. Sirius' helmet was shaped like a dog, which fit with a name derived from the Canis Major constellation. "If this card is Summoned: Shuffle five Tellarknights in the graveyard into the Deck, then draw 1 card." Neter shuffled Satellarknights Rigel, Vega, Altair, Capella and Stellarknight Delteros back into their original decks. He drew a trap card from his deck afterwards. "Hmmm. It's not enough to blow up one card this time. I am gonna get rid of them all!" Neter overlayed his three level 4 Satellarknights and he XYZ-summoned the white star swordsman(4/2100/2500). "Stellarknight Triverr!" Triverr promptly unleashed its power. Now that it had been summoned, it would return all cards on the field back into the players hand. Or in this case, it would push Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon back into the extra deck. "Bye-bye fusion dragon!"

"Who cares about Pendulum dragon?!" That was when Uno flipped the trap card Pendulum Reborn, before it could be returned. "Wha?" Pendulum Reborn revived a face-up pendulum monster from the extra deck or from the graveyard. Uno used it to resummon Stargazer Magician to his field. "Oh I get it! You wanted your pendulums back!" Stargazer, along with Trump Witch and Timegazer Magician, were returned to Uno's hand. Rune-Eyes returned to Uno's extra deck. The downside was that Uno had no defenses anymore. "Neat!" Neter declared a direct attack; the XYZ-monster swung his sword through Uno's body. "Hey-hey Uno, did you know Triverr can discard a card from your hand? Better hope I pick the wrong one!" One material was detached from the Stellarknight while Neter thought about which card to take away from Uno. "Hmm. That one!" He chose the leftmost one. "Heh." This time Uno was doing the smiling. He discarded a Performapal from his hand. "Trump Witch? Geeeez. Well, at least I stopped your fusions!" It was not that bad a choice in the end. "Hmm. I set two cards in the back row. That was it!"

Uno's LP: 4300

"Stopped me? You don't understand, do you Neter? I will never stop." Uno took his turn. This drawphase he gained Performapal Silver Claw. "I set the pendulums!" Timegazer and Stargazer were activated as pendulum scales again. "So I can pendulum summon these three monsters!" The hand released Performapal Silver Claw(4/1800/700), Performapal Kaleidoscorp(6/100/2300) upon the field. Odd-Eyes escaped the extra deck. "There is more than one way to fuse monsters! Your friend June can tell you that!" Uno took Silver Claw and Odd-Eyes. "By sacrificing the fusion materials; a beast-type monster with a dark-type dragon, I can special summon this fusion monster!" The wolf and dragon were forcibly mixed together. "This is what I'll create: Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The essence of the silver beast transformed Odd-Eyes. Bone-plate armor, spikes and fur covered its body. Uno had done it again. This dragon(8/3000/2000) of pure rage was another card that had not existed before now.

"Is that card really a part of the deck?" Alice shivered. The appearance of this beast was far more horrifying than that of Rune-Eyes. There was mad wide-eyed glow in the dragons eyes. Uno had that same glow. "I.." Emily did not even know what to think. She thought she knew Uno enough by now. That card took everyone else by surprise too, especially the Fusion Guild. "Uno has more than one fusion monster?" Eric had not even seen Uno use the first one before. Reality itself seemed to have shifted around for this duel. "Yes..that is interesting." Dame Phoebe observed the duel with great interest as well. "Who knew he was this attracted to our kind of power."

Uno activated the effect of Kaleidoscorp. The scorpions light tail created prismatic clones of Beast-Eyes. It could attack any monster on the field for the rest of the turn. "Tag." Uno pointed his finger at Stellarknight Triverr. "You're gone." The attack followed. Scorching flames traveled up the dragons throat. With one infernal breath, Beast-Eyes laid waste to the caped knight. "And you're it, now, Neter! Beast-Eyes inflicts effect damage whenever it destroys an opponents monster!" The fire did not dissipate after the clash. It expanded and formed a flaming aura around Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "The damage will be equal to the attackpoints of the beast-type fusion material! Maybe you feel like talking after this, Neter?"" The fire spread further, narrowly missing Neter as it tried to catch the kid. "Eep." He managed to flip backwards to avoid the flames. His coat was less fortunate. "Hot, very hot!" The coat-tails had been singed.

Neter's LP: 5300

"Did you see that sir? That fire was not just a projection!" One of Adamants followers detected the damage done. Not just to Neters coat, but there were black marks on the floor as well. Naturally Adamant had seen the same. "This is what happened at Dreamworld last week.." That was the kind of power Kyle had accused them of having. So _these_ duelists had it. "There was no intel on this." The fact that Uno was the one who caused the damage, was the strange part "How did _he_ do it?"

Back at the duel, Neter dusted off his coat. "Well, you did tag me. But I really can't tell you who you are. I don't know that, my friends don't. We have an idea though... _What_ you are is easier! If you have one of these.." Neter gave his armband a tap. "Then you're like me! You're not from this time. This is not your world. You are only here because of the pendulum." That was as much as he felt like saying before he turned his attention back to the duel. Triverr had been sent to the graveyard while it still carried XYZ-materials. So it's third effect was set off. Neter used that effect to special summon Satellarknight Altair back to his field. Next in line was Satellarknight Sirius who was revived through Altairs effect. "You think I will let you off with those answers? Or are you just giving me more chances to damage you!?" Summoning two new monsters just meant that Beast-Eyes could attack two more times. It did not matter if they were summoned in defense mode, the dragon would inflict 1800 points of damage for each kill.

"No. I don't think you'd be all smiles from just that. But that is all I can say. Unless you _are_ the one we're looking for.. unless you are _Tempus_. It'd make my job a lot easier. since I'd get to use my best cards! Yay!" Neter activated one of his trap cards. "Wonder XYZ! I can XYZ-summon during my opponents turn!" The trap started up the overlaying process. Satellarknight Altair and Sirius were placed on top of each other. "Tempus? Who is Tempus? Answer me! You cant avoid damage this way either!" Uno did not care what rank 4 monster would come this time. Beast-Eyes could attack that one too. "Wanna bet?!" Neter laughed. A wave of raw pressure made the ground shake. "What?" Uno caught sight of something he could not comprehend. A bizarre mark appeared on Neters hand, like a burning tattoo. "I summon Number thirtyn.."

"That is quite enough." The summoning process was brutally cut short. "Hu-hey!?" Neters dueldisk was suspended, and a barrier erected. "Lame. You keep interrupting duels when they're about to get good!" Neter whined at the holographic image of Iria that came included with the barrier. "It was getting into forbidden territory. The cards Uno played were illegitimately added to his deck. The card you were about to play does not even exist in our database. You are disqualified, officially. The people on the other side of this barrier already can not see you. They only see an empty stage." It was not easy to pull off; modifying recorded three-dimensional footage and pasting it unto a six-sided barrier. This theater was the only place in which a 'cloak' on such a grand scale could be created. It would fool the duelists for now. "Heehhhh.. That is so cool! But still.. it's not nice to end the duel now. I was having fun, you know? How would you like it if.." Then, the kid pulled a similar vanishing act.

"... I came into your place and interrupted your fun?" Neter appeared behind the actual Iria Silver, in the skybox were Zach and Dom also were. "Guh.. How.. how did you?" Iria could not begin to comprehend what her eyes showed her. One second he was down there, trapped inside a cage of energy. Now he was here. "It's what I do. Now, wanna have some fun with me?"

(To be Continued in Annex 042: A Name with Two Duelists)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Trump Witch

-  
BeastEyes Pendulum Dragon

 _Misdirection Wing (+)  
_ Pendulum Reborn

 _(+ Based on the trap used by Yuya in YGO Arc-V)_

 **New Cards used by Neter Decan  
** Satellarknight Deneb  
Satellarknight Vega  
Satellarknight Sirius

-  
Stellarknight Skybridge  
Hexatellarkight

-  
Threatening Roar  
Wonder XYZ


	42. A Name with Two Duelists

**Annex 042: A Name with Two Duelists**

"Get back! The duel wasn't finished!" Uno was trapped in a cage, a place where nobody could see him expect the ones who had created this prison. "Dom! Let me out. I need to finish this!" His opponent had vanished. Neter fled like a coward and left him alone in here. "I want the truth! I will get it!" His evergrowing anger traveled over towards his cards. Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon spewed flames at the invisible walls, and slammed the ground with its claws and tail. It had become a real monster and it would find a way to freedom no matter what.

"Impossible! He is going to destroy the barrier at this rate!" Iria cried out. The barrier projectors were only barely holding on. "Hey-hey. You already saw one impossible thing today. One more can't hurt!" And still there was the other threat, Neter. "You. You must have been the one who helped August escape. That's quite impressive. Where did you pick up a talent like that?" This kid just warped into the most secure room in the entire theater. Naturally Zach hoped he could sweet-talk Neter into revealing his secret. "Not tell-ing! It's not something you can repeat anyway." Neter laughed as he blinked out of sight. He re-appeared behind Dom himself. "Sir!" Iria and Zach immediately came to his side. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt your boss... any more. They told me to infiltrate the tournament and find out more about Uno." He teleported once again, moving to the door that opened into the hallway. "He is kinda out of control, we're gonna need all four of us to tackle him. So we'll be back later. Bye-bye-bye!" He broke off into a sprint. "Stop him!" Iria beckoned for a few guards and they pursued. "Sir. I will handle this!" She followed.

"Well.. that was something." Dom sighed a breath of relief. "Now what are we going to do about the ball of fire down there?" Uno was still inside the barrier, for a limited time. "Maybe I can talk him down." Zach said with only half his usual confidence. That guy was a in a state that words could probably not fix easily. "I have a better idea. Re-align the angles of the forcefield so that it creates a path away from the tournament and into the backstage area. Nobody will be there, nobody will get hurt. Give the crowd another duel, keep the tournament going. They must be entertained _and_ distracted." Dom suggested with uncharacteristic yet mild severity. "You mean to lead him somewhere?" It was a decent plan. Zach just did not see what the next step was. "That, Zachary, can only be answered with a dramatic statement.." Dom flipped his dueldisk out of his sleeve. "To me!"

...

From the outside, the viewing audience could not have realized what actually was going on. The barrier cloaked every activity on the stage and skybox. The big screen mentioned something about technical difficulties and the next duel beginning soon. "What does this mean? Did Uno cheat?" The conclusion Mrs. Brandt drew was the one everyone was supposed to draw. "He wouldn't." Only a few like Alice thought there was something more going on. Though the kind of cards Uno and Neter played, did make them look like cheaters. "Where are you going?" Heather asked as her older daughter got up. "To Doms place, to see if I can get some answers." Sitting around would not let them find out what the hell was going on down there. "I'm coming with you!" Alice shouted. "No! Stay with mom." Emily insisted. "This can get dangerous.."

But the danger was no longer on stage. Zachary followed Doms instructions to clear the area for the next duel. He then spliced in some of Doms pre-recorded speeches to announce it; a fight between Eric and a duelist from the Synchro-guild. "I have to duel already?" Eric had not really prepared for this. "Oh you can do it." Meridian and the rest of the fusion guild 'encouraged' him to move. "Yeah but.. what about Uno? Is he out? Did he lose?" Eric did not like this. One of the many reasons he had joined this tournament was to have a chance of dueling Uno again. He just could never tell him that to his face. "Hey Uno. You'd better get in there. Or else.." Phoebe clenched her hand. Erics doubts did not make her very happy with him. "Oh she doesn't mean to threaten you. But you should still perform the duel and you should not worry about Uno." Not with half of her at least. "I guess so." So he gave in.

...

That the stage was cleared for more duels was because Uno had done as Dom predicted. "Where is everyone?!" Uno rode his dragon like a mount as it stormed through the space in the back of the theater, thinking he had smashed open the barrier when in fact he had just been going where he was allowed to go. "Right here." A single voice came out to greet him. "Well, I am not _every_ one. But you get my drift." It was him, the masked man. "Where is Neter?" Uno did not see anyone else. "He got away, the slippery bugger. So you can take a breather now." Dom tried to talk at first, to do something about that ravenous expression on Uno's face. "This fight must be finished. I will find him. I will tear this entire place up if I have to!" But to him the duel was still going; his dragon would not stop until it was destroyed. "I was afraid you'd say something like that." Dom scratched his dome. Then he turned his dueldisk on. "You? You're going to challenge me?" Uno broke out in laughter. "Hey. Better me than our audience."

Doms LP: 5300 Uno's LP: 4300

"I see. You're taking Neters place!" Each duelist kept their lifepoints. Uno also still had Timegazer Magician, Stargazer Magician, Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(8/3000/2000) and Performapal Kaleidoscorp(6/100/2300) on his field. "Your friend Cassius showed you that; Battle Royal Mode. Of course it's not very helpful if your partner bailed." Luckily, Dom could start his turn and he could start with a full hand. He drew six cards. "Now. I summon Engraver of the Mark!" Doms first monster was a spellcaster-type swordsman(4/1800/1200) who wore a dark hat and dark coat. "This little marvel can target one card each turn and destroy it two turns afterwards." The Engraver used his spells to make a mark on Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. The fusion dragon would selfdestruct during Uno's next endphase. "Your turn, my boy." Dom said after he placed two cards down in the spell/trap zone.

"I am not your anything, Dom!" Uno started his turn and shifted right towards his battle phase. "Stop wasting my time with your monsters and your little speeches!" Beast-Eyes attacked Engraver of the Mark. "Timewasting eh?" First Dom activated the Engravers effect again to target Uno's Timegazer Magician. Then Dom activated one of his traps. "That earns you a Punch in the Box!" A jack-in-the-box toy appeared and released a springloaded boxing glove. "Your attack is blocked. Another monster you control is sent to the graveyard and your attacking monster loses attackpoints equal to that monsters defense points!" Beast-Eyes got punched so hard it dizzily stumbled backwards and crashlanded on top of the Kaleidoscorpion. The scorpion pal was crushed under the weight while the dragon(700/2000) suffered a loss of power. "Graaah! You and Neter are all the same. Keeping secrets, acting dumb, playing games with people! I have had enough of it!"

"That does not sound like the duelist I saw in my tournament." Dom commented. "You do not know me at all!" Uno moved to the second main phase to perform a pendulum summon. He revived Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000), Performapal Silver Claw(4/1800/700) and Kaleidoscorp from the extra deck. The latter was still sent to the extra deck if he was directly put in the grave by an effect. "Yeah but I bet the old Uno would have pendulum summoned first and attacked second." Dom felt his point was made. Uno was too enraged to duel straight. "Shut up!" Uno then fused Silver Claw and Odd-Eyes together to create another Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(8/3000/2000). "Two of them?" Apparently Uno was going to keep making those fusions. "I told you. It will not stop until I get what I want.. Set card, end turn!" During the endphase, the first Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon was destroyed by the cursed mark of the Engraver. The second remained strong. "I'd say you already got to experience a little of how you used to be, Uno.."

"Then again, I'm no psychologist. The cards can the talking a lot better. So let me say something about myself." Dom first activated an equip spell, Vengeful Servant. "What?" The spell was equipped to Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, for no apparent gain. "You'll see my brilliant plan in a minute." Dom ignored the spell and normal summoned his next monster; a hooded magician(4/1500/1000) with a star on its right eye. "Behold! Performage Damage Juggler!" If the appearance did not reveal similarities, its name sure did. "Perform..mage?" It was not a performapal and it was too close to one. "Yeah. Bet you never saw one of these before. The other UNO isn't the only one who can invent archetypes! Now go get em, Damage Juggler!" The magician threw his juggling balls at the Pendulum dragon. "What are you doing?" The only thing that attack managed was drawing counterfire from Beast-Eyes. With one blast, the balls and the Juggler were destroyed. Additionally, since the dragon destroyed another monster, Dom took effect damage equal to Silver Claw's attackpoints.

Dom's LP: 2000

"Aha. Right where I want you! Trap card: Trick Box!" Another box was summoned, a golden case that was large enough to fit one entire dragon. "Hey!" And it did. "Trick Box takes control of a monster when a Performage 'disappears' by destruction. The destroyed mage is special summoned to your side!" Two panels of the box opened again. One side spat out Damage Juggler in attack-position. The other forced Beast-Eyes on Doms side. "But.." When Dom claimed the Dragon, Vengeful Servant's effect triggered. The equip spell inflicted damage to the duelists that took over the wielder. "What? The damage?" Dom was about to lose 3000 lifepoints. "Pocket change. I summon Performage Flame Eater from my hand!" A black ball(4/1200/1600) with a hat, cape and big eyes popped up on the field to literally eat the damage that Vengeful Servant created. "Flame Eater can summon himself when I am about to take damage. That damage is negated. We both take 500 points of damage when a Flame Eater is summoned though." Flame Eater let out a burp of embers which struck both players.

Dom's LP: 1500 Uno's LP: 3800

"I can see how you want to end this little show, Dom! Petty tricks will not work on me!" An attack from Beast-Eyes would be the beginning of the end. Uno had no desire to let it get that far. "Command Performance!" However Uno had his traps ready to go too. As one Performapal was on his field, Command Performance would switch all Doms attack-position monsters, including Beast-Eyes, to defense. "Hmm. Guess I was the idiot for thinking you would flip back to normal once I took this monster away from you." Whatever Uno's problem was, the source was not this fused dragon beast. "Still. I know there is something special about these dragons."

Dom continued. He activated the effect of the Engraver and marked the Kaleidoscorpion. "I used Flame Eaters effect, so I can only summon Performages this turn." Dom called off his battle phase. He activated a continuous spell card, Bubble Barrier. "The solution is obvious." He took Engraver of the Mark and Performage Flame Eater and attached them together. "I XYZ-summon Performapal Trapeze Magician!" An acrobatic and masked magician(4/2500/2000) soared down from the ceilings, swinging on a trapeze. "Now the fun begins, as my turn ends!" Trick Box only switched control of monsters for one turn. Both Damage Juggler and Beast-Eyes would come back to their original owners. Vengeful Servant inflicted 3000 points of effect damage to Beast-eyes new master. "Rghggh!" Uno had to take the full brunt of it, he experienced the kind of pain he had been putting out all this time. During this endphase, the Engravers curse destroyed Timegazer Magician as well. "Heh. And Zachary thought I could never pull that combo off. Pity, nobody else was around to see it."

Uno's LP: 800

"Uno, Dom?" The master was wrong about that, as it turned out. "Why are you two dueling each other?" Emily had found them by following the noise their monsters made. "Oh ms. Brandt. You were not supposed to see us. But I am glad you did." Dom figured out what had gone wrong. The projectors could not maintain a cloak this far into the theater, it worked better in illuminated open spaces. "What is going on, Uno?" The barrier was still there though. She could not come any closer than she already was. "I am settling the score, Emily!" Uno hesitated only briefly after she showed up. Anger won out eventually. "Dom is the enemy! Just like the rest!" Uno activated a spell card. "Pot of Riches! I return three pendulum monsters in the graveyard or extra deck to draw two cards!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Trump Witch and Timegazer Magician were put back in the deck. The pendulum pot than dropped two new monster cards in Uno's hand. "... I set the scale, Dharma-Eye Magician!"

"Oh you just keep them coming, don't you?" Uno had access to new pendulum Magicians too. Dom was getting used to it. Dharma-Eye the scale 2 Hindu-mage replaced Timegazer Magician. "Dharma-Eye can change a Pendulum monsters scale!" Uno revealed his other card; Performapal Guitartle. "He will change his own scale into Guitartle's!" The magician of oversight copied the Guitartle's scale of 6. And thanks to this new Magicians presence, Stargazer regained his scale of 1. "Pendulum summon!" This allowed Uno to special summon Performapal Silver Claw back from his extra deck. "Attack!" The wolf(2100/700) launched its body at Performapal Damage Juggler right away. "Uh-uh-uh! Not so fast!" Silver Claw did not get far. A bubble formed around the Juggler. "Bubble Barrier makes it so that each Performage cannot be destroyed once a turn. I take no battle damage from attacks involving my Performages either!" The wolfs claws only popped the bubble while Damage Juggler stayed unharmed. "Do you think that is going to save you? Beast-Eyes can still inflict 1800 points of effect damage!" Uno sent his fused beast dragon to burn the bubble-less Juggler to the ground.

"...and?" However Dom took no effect damage either. "How.." The damaging flames did not go towards Dom. They were intercepted by Trapeze Magician. "My XYZ-Performage blocks any effect damage that is less than its attackpoints." The Master explained. "Damn it! Damn it!" Uno raged. If only he could have killed Trapeze Magician too. "Uno, calm down. What has gotten into you?" Uno's behavior was worse than Emily expected. It was like he had become a whole new person. "I am this close to the truth. I cannot slow down now. I have to force it out of him!" Uno took Beast-Eyes and Silver Claw. "Come!" He sacrificed them to summon a third Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(8/3000/2000) from his extra deck in defense mode. Beast-Eyes itself was a dark-type dragon, so it could replace Odd-Eyes as the other fusion material. "One more turn. I just need one more turn!" He then set a monster down in defense mode. As his turn passed, Kaleidoscorp became the last victim of the Engravers mark and died.

"I tried reasoning, miss. Not very effective. This might be better.. By banishing Damage Juggler from my graveyard, I can add a differently-named Peformage monster from my deck to my hand!" Dom used the effect to fetch a Performage Hat Tricker card. "When there are two monsters on the field, I can special summon Hat Tricker!" The new Performage(4/1100/1100) was nothing more than a floating cape, goggles, hat and pair of gloves. "I also summon another one of these." A new Performage Flame Eater(4/1200/1600) was normal summoned. Both Dom and Uno lost 500 lifepoints from its summon. "Uno. I can tell ya one thing. The dragons and Magicians are not just something we randomly made." He started talking as he overlayed Flame Eater with Hat Tricker. "Odd-Eyes is just one." A dark portal opened. "There are more... I XYZ-summon Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!"

Dom's LP: 1000 Uno's LP: 300

"Dark what?" A black dragon(4/2500/2000) was created. "It looks just like.." The resemblance to Odd-Eyes was uncanny. Even Emily could tell. "This is not a trick! Odd-Eyes has friends. In fact, Dark Rebellion was going to be a new card to help the new pendulum era! Your dragon is stronger now, but wait til you see this!" Both XYZ-materials were detached from the XYZ-dragon. "By using all overlayed cards, Dark Rebellion can steal half of a monsters attackpoints!" Electricity shot out of the dragons wing segments. Energy was drained through the currents, away from Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(1500/2000) and towards Dark Rebellion XYZ-Dragon(4000/2000). "Whoa." Emily gasped. "That doesn't mean it's over!" Uno stayed defiant. "Oh. Bad news, Uno." Dom then detached a card from his Performage-XYZ monster as well. "Trapeze Magician has one other trick up its sleeve." The magician swung by the dragon and sprayed it with stars. "He gives one monster a second attack in a battlephase!" The empowered XYZ-dragon took off. "No!" With one pass, it destroyed both Beast-Eyes and Uno's facedown Performapal Guitartle.

"That dragon.. how..why.." Just when he was beginning to understand, more and more questions popped up. "Why did it stop me? Why did it betray me?" The cards had turned against him, none of them were defending him. "Uno. Just let it go. I don't know what is going on either, but.. anger gets you nowhere." Emily spoke from experience. This destructive behavior never got good answers. "What should I do then, obey this man like a slave to get a few scraps of the whole story? He's no friend of mine!" The cards, the pendulum, the dragon; Dom had to be hiding something from him. He did not know what else to do, but to keep attacking. "Well, If I gotta play as your enem, Uno." Dom declared his final attack. "Then the show will end.. my way!" Performage Trapeze Magician came down swinging to kick Uno with his legs. "Stop!" In his desperation, Uno turned to the last thing he could hold unto. His pendulum. "If it ends now, I'll never.." He put it in front of the attacking Performagen, which had unintentional conseqences. "Huh?" The jewel emitted more light than it had ever done before. "Uno!" He, Emily and Dom were blinded by the outburst.

Uno's LP: 0

"Aggh.. Remind me to make the next dome sun-proof." Dom could barely see now, or rub his sore eyes. "Where.." Emily regained her sight first. The backstage had been left the way it was, with the exception of Uno. "Where is he?" Uno was nowhere to be seen or heard

(To be Continued in Annex 043: Lost Backstage)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Dharma-Eye Magician

-  
Pot of Riches

 **New Cards used by Dom  
** Engraver of the Mark  
Performage Damage Juggler  
Performage Flame Eater  
Performage Hat Tricker

-  
Performage Trapeze Magician  
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon

-  
Vengeful Servant  
Barrier Bubble

-  
Punch in the Box  
Trick Box


	43. Lost Backstage

**Annex 043: Lost Backstage**

"We're sorry ma'am. We lost track of him." At the end of their wild Neter chase, which took Iria and her guards nearly halfway through the theater, there was nothing to be found. "How does that even happen? He is using one of our dueldisks, we should be able to track that!" They had kept up with the use of cameras and disks and still this kid managed to slip away, to her great irritation.

"Wow you _really_ arent getting teleporters are you?" That kid was just as skilled at popping back into frame, as he demonstrated when he dropped down from the ceiling to stare right in Iria's face. "!" She nearly cried out in surprise. "Heee. Made you flinch!" Neter snickered. "Wh..why _are_ you still here, if you _can_ teleport?" Even if Iria had to visually confirm that instantaneous movement powers were a part of reality, it did not make any sense to her. "Uhmm. Well I wanted to have a little fun game of hide and seek. Also, that Uno guy might get in the way if I do a long-distance jump near him. He copied some of our powers before. I should be far away enough now!" Neter raised his arm. The jewel on his wrist was glowing. "So now, this really is goodbye. See ya in the near future!" He winked. "Wait!" Iria yelled as he grabbed him by arm. "Waiting is not for people like me." Neter from vanishing on her regardless. Her fingers touched empty air. She could not wrap her head around this. And.. "The Master!" There was someone else who needed her now.

Doms LP: 1000 Uno's LP: 0

The duel was over and it had clearly ended in Doms favor. His dueldisk told him that much. "That flash was not part of the duel." The rest of what happened, including Uno's disappearance, could not be explained by any of his machines. "No.. It was his pendulum." That was the only part of all this unintelligible madness that Emily could clear up. "He was so angry. Who was that kid?" She muttered to herself. There had to be a link between Neter and Uno's uncharacteristic outburst. "You got me. I didn't get much out of this ordeal; except maybe the fact that the kid had the same kind of crystals. But hey, this beauty here has all the data recorded." Dom could not wait to turn his dueldisk in to the tech department. They had to run into some useful information. "But where _is_ Uno?" Emily found this question a little more pressing. The more she looked, the more she realized Uno was not coming back. "Don't look at me. I got blinded too. He must've run away in the confusion."

"...I have to tell them." Emily decided on what was most important right now. "You think that's a smart idea? They might not like what they hear." Dom claimed. "They _should_ hear it. Uno's a friend, and a good guy... You I am not so sure of. But.." Emily was glad that Dom stopped her, as she had one last request for him. "Promise me that you will let us know as soon as you find any trace of Uno." With all his resources, he could search the area far better than she could. "Believe me, missy. I want to find that guy as much as you. This mess is way bigger than I can imagine. And I can imagine a lot."

...

When Iria came back to the skybox and saw Zach without Dom by his side, she had many things to say to him. "Creffield! You left the master unsupervised? At a time like this!?" She was yelling, rather. The last few events had left her a bit flummoxed. "It was his wish to take on Uno alone. I was constantly monitoring him!" Zach flipped up a screen to show Iria what had happened backstage. "He dueled Uno?" She was not sure if that was good or bad news. "I would have stepped in with the barrier if I had to, but I didn't need to. He won the duel." The footage was sped-up so that every turn could be seen. "Of course he won. He's the Master. But what happened afterwards?" The way the duel ended was also caught on film. "Yes, I was about to address that." Zach stopped the video at the exact moment of the flash. "See. Uno is here now." He lowered the brightness, so that a figure could be seen within the light. "Now he is not." He moved the recording by a fraction of a second. The shape was missing. "He's nowhere inside the building, or the park"

"Then he did _it_ as well?" There it was, physical evidence of instantaneous movement. Iria's mind was reeling. "When you say 'as well', it sounds like Neter vanished in a flash. _You_ left the master to pursue him." Zach did not mind pointing that out. "That was different." She argued. "Unfortunately he did get away. If we could understand the mechanic behind this 'power', we will be able to stop him. With this, we have a good start." Iria took the screen with the recording. "11:58 AM." She quoted the time of Uno's vanishing act. "Around that time, Neter escaped. There is a definite correlation." Sometimes something was too well timed for it to be co-incidental. "He could be anywhere if we assume . But where would he go? What places does someone with no memories of the world go to?" Zach had answered his own question. "To the places he knows?"

...

By now the bad news had been shared with the other Brandts. "I don't understand. Did Uno challenge Dom to a duel to keep playing in the tournament even though he was disqualified? Then he lost and fled?" Heather was more confused now than she was before. "He wouldn't do that!" Alice cried out in distress. "He's just trying to chase that kid, I'm sure!" She was unusually insistent. "I believe that, Alice. Part of it anyway." Emily got that Uno did not flip his lid for no reason. Anyone would be desperate to recover memories they had lost. "But Dom said he will be looking for him." She quickly added because she knew her sister would be asking to do the search herself any moment now. "So that kid. Did he know Uno? Was he someone from his past?" Mrs. Brandt guessed. "Neter knew something. But he didn't act like he was Uno's friend. He's might be on the same team as June and August." Guessing was all Emily could do when there was so little to go on. "June..and August?"

"Long, long and confusing story. You better sit down for this, mom."

...,

The day continued, the remaining duels passed without fanfare and a lot of gossip. At the end, the master and his disciples could have their review. "So what can we rule out? Almost anything modern technology can do? I'd give an arm and a leg if I could figure out how to teleport people across the globe." Doms head ached from all the information he had in front of him; none of which could be deciphered. Uno had not been caught on any cameras since his disappearance. Nobody had seen him at the synchro guilds castle, the Brandts hometown or other noteworthy locations either. His dueldisk was no longer showing up on the network either, and that network covered most developed countries. "Could he have turned his dueldisk off, or destroyed it?" Zach suggested. Iria shook her head. "That would not remove the tracker inside his dueldisk. Unless that device got damaged during 'relocation', it should be telling us where he is even if he went to the farthest corner of the deepest jungle." Their satellites would have spotted a signal by now. Neter could get away because his dueldisks had no bugs in it, Uno could not. "So Uno found a way to leave the planet. Hell, he could be dead for all I know. But I can't exactly tell those kids that." Dom sighed.

His headache was about to get worse. "Huh? What is it Claire?" One of Doms many assistants called in on his speakerphone. "Sir. Both the representatives of the Fusion and XYZ guild have requested a meeting with _you_. I informed them that you were occupied, but they did not take 'no' for an answer. A visual conference would be enough for them. What should I tell them?" The trembling in her voice made it very clear that she was hoping that Dom would say yes. "Why not. What's the worst that can happen? Patch them through." Dom kicked his chair away from the control panel to give the callers some space. The projectors formed holographic recreations of Dame Phoebe and Adamant. "Gentle duelists. Judging by the way you scared poor Claire, I'd say you have something important to ask me." While they were not here physically, the three could see and hear each other perfectly.

"I think you will find our requests quite mutual, sir Dom." Dame Phoebe opened the discussion. "We know you want the same thing as us, Adamant." But she left the bulk of the request to her rival, after a small taunt. "The Guild does. I'll get to the point. Dom, you will continue the tournament." Coming from him, it was not so much a request as it was an order. "Last time I checked, Adamant, Dom did not answer to you. Who told you that the tournament was put on hold?" Iria reminded these people of their place. "The rumors are out there. This round was handled sloppily, and the chaos of the second duel caused a great deal of concern. My guild and the Fusion guild both want your guarantee that today's crisis will not affect the quarterfinals." Adamant demanded without a hint of shame "Don't see this as a responsibility towards us, but as a responsibility towards the community. You can't let one or two delinquents destroy everything you set out to accomplish.""Even if it was entertaining as hell to watch." Dame and Phoebe added.

"Now that may be what the duelists want, but there's a lot more customers here than there are guild members. We have to keep them safe, and if they are at risk we should conduct a thorough investigation no matter how much time it takes!" Zach responded this time,. That pleased his boss. "Thank you, Zachary. I couldn't have said it better myself. Besides, we can't have anything harm our reputation." He stacked on some of his own priorities to the list of counter-arguments. "Regardless. The guilds will not rest until a champion has been declared, with or without you." Adamant responded. "Was that a threat?" He went a little too far, by Iria's standards. This guy clearly had no idea who he was talking too. "Silver, stand down. You too, Creffield." Yet Dom, who had taken a quick side-glance at his personal computer, changed his tone drastically and undercut her. "Sir Adamant, Madame Phoebe. You will get what you want. The quarterfinals will take place as scheduled." His response satisfied them greatly. "You made a wise decision." Adamant determined and his hologram faded out. "We'll be seeing you tomorrow." Phoebe giggled and bid them her farewell.

"Sir.. You said I shouldn't be affraid to ask you anything. So I am going to ask this.. why did you allow this?" Zach knew his boss well enough to deduce that Doms mind had been changed by what he saw on his computer. "It is what UNO wants." Dom clicked a button to put the contents of his screen on the main monitor. A mail had been sent to Dom on his private address. The only man who had this address was 'the first duelist'. "He finally called back?" UNO usually did not respond this quickly, or give such short mails. The message was one simple sentence; KEEP THE TOURNAMENT GOING. "How did he know?"

"He always knows, Zachary." Dom placed his hands on his mask and slowly took it off. "I'm not controlling this tournament anymore. I don't think I did to begin with."

...,...,

The stories Heather Brandt heard, with no details left out, helped her make her next decision. She was going to stay with them for the rest of the tournament. "Mom, you really don't have to do this." Emily's mother was bringing her belongings to the hotelroom as they spoke. "Nonsense. You two are more important to me than anything else. I can afford to extend my leave and there are plenty of rooms available." Despite Doms best efforts with the cover-up, word of Uno and Neters destructiveness was breaking out. This, paired with Kyle's accusations from the previous day, set off a flame of paranoia and insecurity. Many duelists and nonduelists were leaving already. The park was primarily dominated by the guilds, and even they bled members. "But what about Uno's room?" Alice mentioned abruptly. "If he comes back, we gotta keep it free for him, right? Maybe he will show up in the middle of the night, and there wont be anyone to open the door for him when he comes knocking. He could slowly dehydrate or starve."

"Just what kind of fantasies have you been seeing?" Emily shook her head. "What are you saying, honey?" Her mother asked. "Maybe I.. or you can sleep in his room for the night?" That would at least save Mrs Brandt the money for her own room. "I am okay with that. But you girls really need to rest now. We can see where to go from here, tomorrow." They had been worrying all evening with no signs of Uno. Sometimes you just had to accept that you could not do anything. "Okay, mom." Emily accepted this plan. "C'mon Alice." She headed up to their room. "Yeah... right behind you!" Alice followed, but first she stared out the windows and looked at the black night. Silently, she hoped that Uno at least had a place to stay at for the night. Wherever he was.

...,,,,,,,,,-

 _"Imaerehw?" That sensation one had, when they were calmly sleeping in their bed and for no reason the ground underneath opened up. A sudden fall and yet your body never moved from its comfortable rest. It was that kind of experience for him right now. Uno was in limbo, he fell out of the normal world and lied in in a cloud of moving colors. Lights headed in every direction; up and down, left and right, away and towards. Sounds passed too quickly to be heard, there was no smell or taste, there was nothing he could touch. He stood still on nothing. "ishtsitahw?" The words he spoke came out garbled. He did not understand himself. Any way he looked there was the same chaos. There was nothing to focus on. He did not know he got here, where he came from or where he was going? Was he even going anywhere? He was stuck, wasn't he? What did this? "?muludnepeht?" Uno could still affect his own body and his own belongings. He could take the pendulum jewel. This was the object that placed him here, he remembered it!_

 _"ohWho?" Once he held it, the madness gained a method. The lights slowed down and the noise stabilized. Though Uno still couldn't comprehend what this place was, this was a start. "heY!" He could even make out other shadows in the distance, four of them! There was something to use as a marker. "Hhey! caN yOu heRE Me?" Except this limbo was playing cruel tricks on him. His body still refused to go anywhere. Or was it that he could not close the gap no matter how much he struggled? Nevertheless he was not alone. He was not. He was far from alone._ _ **Uliyrwwvm.**_ _There was someone.. some... thing.. else.. in this world._ _ **Uliyrwwvm.**_ _It spoke, it said things in a cold mechanical tone, in a language that did not exist._ **Zmznlob wvgvxgvw. Zmznlob wvgvxgvw. Zmznlob wvgvxgvw.** _Whatever it was saying, it kept repeating it._ **Vcvxfgrmt iverhrlm. Vcvxfgv. Vcvxfgv.** _And it was getting closer, louder. "What..are you?" Uno had to turn around. He had to see it. He could not keep living with himself if he did not take a peek. He wished he hadn't._

 **Ivgfim gl lirtrmzo grnvormv Y/N?**

 _A great eye stared at him, its iris was larger than the horizon._

 **Y.**

"Gah!" Uno woke up. Did he wake up? It felt like waking up. He had been laying down on the floor, so he 'd probably been unconscious either way. Now he could move, the nightmare was over. "Dom! Emily?" Not that reality was more pleasant. Uno regained his memories of his last few actions and he lacked the emotions that came with them. What had gone through him? A different person took over, that's how his mind perceived it. That context for the fury was gone. "I am.." And so where they. "Sorry." He was alone. This was still the same place, the same dark rooms of the amphitheater. But they had left him. "You lost your audience, Uno." He said out loud, hoping anyone would answer. Nobody did. "Just me." He still had his dueldisk, he still had his cards, he still had the pendulum. That was all he ever had. _"Back then, who was I? Was I you? Was I who I had forgotten to be? If that is the case, I don't like us very much, Uno."_ There had been so much anger, it was no wonder he drove everyone away.

"On the other hand, this is nuts." Uno took another look at his surroundings. "Why would they leave me alone? Dom would at least send a few dozen guards my way after what I did. Emily and Alice would not just leave me either, right?" Uno got up and examined the walls. "Ehh." There was dust on them, a thick layer. The wood panels looked worn down too, and the stone pillars were cracked. The amphitheater was old, sure. But this looked ancient; this place was in a state of decay! "I've heard of long naps, but this beats everything..." Uno held his breath. _"Ugh. Forget it. Let's just look for someone."_ He put his thoughts aside and rushed out towards the nearest exit. Another voice would clear things up. He did not care whose voice it was. It could even be Iria. "Come on." He kept walking and searching. Nobody crossed his path. The closer he got to the outside, the more disconcerting the silence became. "No." And once he reached the wide-open arena, he could see straight into a clear sky filled with strange lights and oddly shaped futuristic drones. It was not a corrupted horizon, but it was not the same either.

"No. No. No. I'm not seeing this."

This was not where he had left off. The entire theater was in ruins. Gone was the big screen and the seating, there was no evidence that this place had ever been used for duelists. "What the hell is going on?" He had seen this strangely colored sky before, in his nightmares. "That dream?" That was not a dream. That limbo, the eye, it had all been real. "You did this!" The pendulum, it brought him here. "..Timetravel?!" Neter, the pendulum, the arena, the dragons, the prophecy.. time.. Time had run out. "This is..the future?"

(To be Continued in Annex 044: Compromise on Continuity)


	44. Compromise on Continuity

**Annex 044: Compromise on Continuity**

There was a whole new world to explore; a terrifying world. Uno did not want to see what waited for him out there, he did not want to be here. But he had no choice, he could be stuck here for the rest of his life in the worst-case scenario. He had to find someone, he had to ask what year this was and what happened to make this place was it was now. Ruins, everywhere he looked he only saw ruins. Outside the amphitheater there were crumbled buildings and walls covered with moss and vines. Nature had taken over. There was no evidence of an amusement park ever having been here. Just how quickly did a house usually deteriorated into a pile of rubble anyway? It could not be less then a decade. Were they demolished perhaps? Then why was the theater left alone? This place was abandoned. Civilization, that was what he had to reach. That would be quite the challenge, the forest was on every horizon. Then there were the odd helixical drones in the sky, which just floated there. What were they for?

And yet, in spite of everything, Uno did not feel lost.

 _"Okay, think, Uno. Different time, same planet. Where was the nearest city?"_ It was in fact quite easy for him to regain his bearings. He remembered there was a major city two miles down from here. A large distance, but it could be covered on foot _. "Wait.. how can I be sure that place is still around? Sure cities don't disappear easily. Except.."_ Uno was convinced that city would still be there, and he did not have an explanation as to why. It was the same with the other scraps of general knowledge he had saved. Uno did not remember when or where he learned basic mathematics, he just had. There was a certain familiarity to this dark and gloomy atmosphere. _"No..wait.. What if.."_ Uno activated his dueldisk, just for curiosity's sake. "...Nonono. You gotta to be joking." He did not expect the thing to actually work. Not only _did_ it work, it received signals from local sources. There was a network in this time-period as well, and his disk could connect with it. The dueldisk that had come been with him since the beginning... "Ah.."

This was his world.

"No way, nohow." This was what Neter had been talking about, Uno did not belong in the present. The future was his world. "Not this. I don't want this!" The pendulum had brought him back here. "Not this way! It's too soon! I still don't remember anything!" He was afraid. Uno was scared of this world. This is what he'd run away from, this was what gave him his nightmares. "Get me out! Now!" The pendulum was keeping him here now. Uno could shake it as much as he wanted, the jewel did nothing. "Okay. Okay... Okay. Calm down. Calm down, Uno. Just because you're here does not mean you can never go back. It's not like you're gone for every second that you take here. That's not how this works, right?" Uno exhaled. He found peace for several seconds. "Aaahh!" Then he screamed and ruffled his hair. "No. How does it even work? How can I even do this? How can those guys do it?" It did not matter if he eventually found a way to return to 'when' he wanted to be, he would still spend the moments in between here. He could not just sit around, he had to find water.. food.. people..

"People?" Fortune smiled upon him. There was someone coming for him right now. "Hey! Hey!" It might have been a bad idea to call out to them. This person could be anyone, good or bad. In this darkness it was hard to make out this persons features. But Uno was beyond caring. He'd been wandering through desolation for hours now, any interaction would be an improvement. "Wait. Hey! Where are you going?" The figure kept walking, as if it had not heard his cries. "Was it something I said? Something I did? Look, I'm a bit new to this place, I don't know the customs yet! Can you please.." There was a reason for this, which Uno discovered when he placed himself in front of this stranger. "help..me?" The person was like a ghost, it had no face or color, and it passed through him like the wind. "... Stop! Don't go! Don't lea.."

,,,,,,,,,,,,...

"Uno?" Alice flinched and turned around. "What is it?" Emily asked her. "I thought I heard Uno." She said. "What? Where?" Neither her sister nor Alice could see him. "I could've sworn... I must've imagined it. Sorry. Didn't want to give you false hope." She had given herself enough.

"I know you miss him, Alice, and it is perfectly normal." Her mother tried to soothe her. "To hear him? I'm not crazy am I?" That momentary delusion only made her sadder than she was before. The truth was unkind, Uno hadn't returned that night. Nobody at the hotel saw hide or hair of him. Dreamworlds men could not locate him either, as Zach informed them this morning. Still they were called them to come over to Doms office. After they stopped by Cassius, who was fast recovering, they made their way to the master and the disciples. The problem was clear. Round four was about to begin with only Seven duelists; Alice, Eric, Phoebe, Adamant, the two remaining members from the Synchro Guild and one last member from the XYZ-guild. The last day had evened out the odds a lot. "I hope Eric wins." Eric was set to duel first, against a member of the Synchro guild again. "What about your duel?" Alice did not know who she would be facing yet, there was no open bracket for today. "I don't...know.." The 4th match would be the real question of the quarterfinals.

Dreamworld had an elegant solution. "What?!" One that Emily loudly disagreed with. "Hey? I thought you would be pleased." As it turned out they had just given the victory away to the other duelist from the Synchro guild. Both Neter and Uno were disqualified, so there could be no 4th duel. "It was the least we could do after Cassius had to sit his battle out." Zach thought it was a generous offer. "Do you know how he cheated then, sir Creffield?" Heather inquired. "We think it's a built-in card printer. A very good one. It would have to be to bypass our codes. If only we could analyze those cards. We should have. Now we lost our chance." Dom snapped his fingers. "Lost your chance? You don't think Uno will get back?" Alice did not like what he was saying, what he had done. Giving away Uno's spot was the same as giving up on Uno. "Nobody is saying that. We can't say what is going to happen. We just work with what we see and what the audience sees. They saw Uno use cards that should not exist yet, in their eyes he broke the rules. We don't want people to think we supply duelists with special cards. He wouldn't be able to duel regardless, I am sorry."

"Oh." Alice got it now. "Then.. I don't want to duel anymore either."

...

Phoebe's LP: 5600 Gwens LP: 76800

The quarterfinals went very well for Eric. He landed his win with moderate difficulty. Dame Phoebe went next, against Gwen the Class 2 duelist from the XYZ-guild. Gwen deck destruction deck went up against Phoebe's Frightfurs and Fluffals. One one side was Frightfur Bear(6/2200/1500) and a set card in Phoebe's spell/trap zone. There was also a greatly destroyed deck and Gwen was about to make it lose even more cards. "I summon Tristan the Knight of the Underworld!" A skeletal horseman(4/1800/0) rode in on a horse with glowing red eyes, galloping through the massive dark fog projected by the theaters hologrid. "When Tristan is normal summoned, I can take one zombie with zero defense points out of their grave." Gwen took a lowlevel zombie card. "Isolde, Belle of the Underworld! I can special summon her from my hand when Tristan is already on the field!" A white-haired and horned ghost-lady(4/1000/0) emerged from the mist trails of the Underworld Knight. "Isolde can change the levels of 2 zombies on the field, to 5, 6, 7 or 8. I choose 6!" By holding hands, Tristan(6/1800/0) and Isolde(6/1000/0) increased their levels twice. "They are together now, for my new XYZ-monster!" Gwen overlayed the two. "I XYZ-summon Pilgrim Reaper!"

The knight and belle created a long-haired grim reaper(6/?/?). It wore a black pilgrim cloak and had a wing of both dark and light feathers. "Oh. Nice. Very nice. Most XYZ-monsters just use their materials as powersources. But this one had a little individuality to it. Yes, I like it." Dame Phoebe said as she clawed her fingers through the air. "Does it look like I care what you think about XYZ-monsters?! We know who the inferior type is." Gwen detached one material from the Pilgrim Reaper. "You have had it easy so far, but your joyride stops at me. Pilgrim Reaper can discard 5 cards from your deck each turn!" Phoebe had to throw away even more of her dying deck. "And the Reaper gains 200 attack and defense points for each dark monster in our graveyards! Your own monsters will help me win, Dame Phoebe! What do you think about that?" Edge Imps all carried the dark attribute. The seven that were in Phoebe's cemetery right now empowered the Reaper(4400/4200) along with the aid of the fifteen zombies in Gwens cemetery.

"What a clean way to get a victory, pfah. Instead of making me bleed you make my deck bleed. You're afraid of my cards, Gwen." The fusion duelist cackled. "..I know you're goading me. But that fusion monster you have is an eyesore. So.." She activated her face-down trap card; Royal Decree. "I will just have to seal your moves! Trap cards cannot be activated now!" The Reaper tightened its grip on its scythe. "Eliminate the target!" Her XYZ-monster flew up into the air, its scythe soared down towards the beartoy of death. "Your mistake was thinking that you could make yourself safe.. from me." Phoebe tapped the card before her, flipping it face-up. "Battle Fusion!" It was a quick-play spell, not a trap. "Ah!" Battle Fusion responded to the attack on a fusion monster. It would add the attackers power to the target for this one battle exchange. The scissors in Frightfur Bear(6600/1800)'s gut tripled in size. "Snip." Both blades closed in around the Pilgrim Reapers neck. Gwens monster was decapitated by one merciless strike. "Damn!"

Gwens LP: 4600

"Thanks for the meal." The headless remains of the Reaper were thrown into the bears gullet. The XYZ-monster became a mere equipment to power up the fusion monster(3200/1800). "What are you going to do now,. huh? Your own trap sealed your defenses, heheh." Little could stop Frightfur Bears counterattack now. "I..don't have to do anything! Your deck will run out by itself at this rate! Most of your monsters are in the graveyard already! Edge Imp Sabres can only revive itself in defense mode!" Gwen only needed a little luck to win. "I end my turn!" Her deck could outlast Phoebe's and she had a decent amount of lifepoints left. "The XYZ-guild likes to pretend it has courage, that it does not know fear. We will tear it out of you, Gwen." When her next turn came, Dame Phoebe shifted back her voice's pitch. Her other half was in 'control' now. "And we will show you you too have a softness. I activate Suture Rebirth. This will bring back one of my sweet Fluffals that you tried to bury." Suture Rebirth repaired the destroyed Fluffal Leo and special summoned it(4/1600/1200) in attack position. "Son of a.." Gwen cursed. "Mind your tongue." Dame Phoebe began the battle phase. Fluffal Leo bumped its head into the XYZ-duelist. "Or we will cut it off for ya!" The Frightfur Bear used its scissors to cut off Gwens lifepoints. Had it been real scissors, she would have lost her head along with her points.

Gwens LP: 0

"Oh my. That did not require much of our time." The girl smiled and tilted her head towards a particular section of the front row. "Do you imagine he enjoyed that? Dear sweet Adamant, his neck will be next. Heheh.. " She made a snipping motion with her fingers. "Tell him we said hi and hello."

"Do it yourself." Gwen fumed and stormed off. As soon as she approached the rest of her guild in the ring, she knelt down. "I apologize sir. I could not defeat her. I was weak." Her eyes averted Adamant as he looked down upon her with his arms folded. "You were weak.. and she was too strong. You did not have a chance to begin with." He was in a foul mood because of this setback. This defeat meant that the entire fate of the XYZ-guild rested on his shoulders. "But she is no match for you, sir. I am certain of it." One of his other followers, Ichirou, stated optimistically. "Your sycophancy is wasted on me, Ichirou. You failed me as well even after Cassius was removed from your path." He grumbled. His finger was nervously tapping on his arm. "When is the next match being announced? I already know who my opponent is." He wanted to get done with this next duel and soon. But there was no word from Dom or an announcement on the big screen at first. Then there was.. a warning of technical difficulties. It appeared one of the duelists was indisposed in some way. "What are they doing?"

Adamant would not tolerate this. He marched right to the skybox and when he discovered that Dom was not even at his station, he waltzed to the office instead. "Why is the next match delayed?" He did not find Dom there either, just Zach who greeted him in the waiting room. "Ah. I was expecting you to drop by. I do apologize. It appears the oddball guild is requesting to be dropped from the bracket. Which means you will be automatically forwarded to the semifinals." Zach the disciple explained it all. But Adamant did not come here to listen to excuses. "Do you mean to insult me? I will advance when I have proven my power. This is not just about honor; there must be no question that the champion _is_ the champion." He was not happy, Zach quickly realized. "Well everything has already been arranged for today. I could get the synchro guild to send me their man, though he already took the free ticket to the semifinals. It will be difficult to convince him to still duel today."

"That's also unacceptable. That would mean that there are only three duelists for the semifinals, you would only postpone the inevitable." In that case, Adamant, Phoebe and Eric were the only ones left. Two Fusion Guild duelists against him alone, Adamant needed to prevent that at all costs. "Where is my opponent? What is her reason for running away?" If he could not talk sense into the disciple, he would go straight for the source. "That is not your concern, young man." However he would have to get through her mother first. The Brandts had been sitting in the office, listening to every word Adamant shouted near the door. "Who are you?" While he was younger than her, he was also taller. There were few who could look Adamant straight in the eye. "The duelists mother. She does not have to do what she does not want, and I refuse to let you say otherwise." Nevertheless, she did not waver in the slightest. "I only want to speak with your daughter. I.."

"It's you.." He could see them through the open door, a redhaired girl with green eyes and a blonde-haired girl with blue eyes. Those eyes brought back a memory he had not been able to get rid of entirely. "Of course. The oddball guild.. his guild." So many duelists, so many names; it was no wonder it took til now to associate the guilds name with the name of Uno. This was the girl that dared to speak to him on his behalf back at the golf course. She was the opponent. "Why do you not want to duel?" He asked her directly.

"Why? I.. only did this for Uno. I don't see why I should go on now." Alice was a bit more intimidated by the man, so her answers were slow and short. "Uno? He is not with you? So the stories were true." As head of the guild, Adamant had caught some chatter here and there. People would naturally talk if a duelist refused to show his face to the public. "He tried to break the rules and fled after he was called out on it. How disappointing. I had some interest in facing him personally." He scoffed. Uno would just be another name to forget. "Now this is your justification; fighting for someone else's sake? That is a lie!" He turned his attention back to her and took another step closer. "Hey, back off!" Emily kept him at bay by standing besides her mother. Not that it silenced him. "You may be fooling yourself, but you do not fool me. I remember something of you, you showed your spirit once. A duelist with no passion would never make it this far. You will never succeed at anything if your decisions depend on the whims of others, if you retreat at the first sign of trouble! You are a member of a guild, you have a duty to your guild. Uno is not here, you are. What do you want?"

"I.." Her voice was shaky. Millions of people were waiting. With every thought she gave the question, she felt herself tripping over reasons to do it. However those reasons were not hers. What would Uno do? He would not deprive the audience of a great show. Now he would never give them another show again, he was part of the outside. Though, that led to a comforting conceit; Uno could see her if she did duel. Uno could come back if she did her best. The duel itself would not make her happy, she sensed. The last three did not make her that happy either. "I want to duel." It was just easier to say yes. That was how it always ended when she was asked to do something. It at least made her feel better than whenever she ran away. "I thought so." Adamant relaxed his stance and breathed out. "You will arrange our duel in the next ten minutes, Disciple." He barked his order at Zach. He showed Alice slightly more restraint. "I will see you in ten minutes. Prepare as you see fit. This duel you will not regret."

Adamant was gone the next minute. "Honey? Is this really what you want?" Heather was left feeling unsure if this had ended the way it should have. "It is, mom." Alice put up her bravest smile. It didn't really matter if she had a chance, not to her.

(To be Continued in Annex 045: Head Above the Clouds)

 **New Cards used by Dame Phoebe  
** Battle Fusion  
Suture Rebirth

 **Cards used by Gwen  
** Tristan, Knight of the Underworld  
Isolde, Belle of the Underworld

-  
Pilgrim Reaper

-  
Royal Decree


	45. Head above the Clouds

**Annex 045: Head above the Clouds**

Zilch. That was how much Uno saw or heard after that first ghostly apparition. Might as well have been a delusion. Though he liked to think he would not lose his mind that fast. He had only been here for hours. It was hard to physically tell how much time was passing in this world, so thankfully he had the clock on his dueldisk. Of course the thing could not give him a date as well, the display was stuck on the same year and day that he left. Timetravel did not update timezones well. _"Still.. how can this device connect? Is dueling still that important after all these years, that they would keep the network? That really is the worst joke for the future."_ It did not benefit him in any case. His dueldisk could not get online, it merely registered what was all around Uno. _"No. Stay focused. I saw her for a reason."_ It had looked like Alice. Why was it her? She linked him to the past, was that it? _"Maybe.. I need to think about it. Maybe this pendulum needs directions."_ Alice had found him first, and she had touched the jewel. Maybe those were good enough reasons. Either way she was his only shot. _"I have to picture her in my head. Where would she be right now? I mean.. where would she be in a time that I can to go back to?... The stage!"_

...,,,,,,,,

It was time to end round four. "Just remember that we will be with you no matter what happens." Her mother and sister had their final words to soothe Alice. "Yeah, who cares what what guy wants? If he wants to win, just give the crybaby his duel." Emily added some of her usual bluntness as well. "Ah, you say that. But I know you want me to win too. You're not very good at hiding it, Em." Alice said with a faint smile. "Well.. why wouldn't I want you to win?! That guy's not invincible. If you don't think you can win, then you are shooting yourself in the foot." Alice's funseeking approach to dueling would not work here and Emily did wish someone could put a cap on Adamants victory streak. "Yeah, Em. I will try." Alice was aware of all of that. The last few duels she had just gone along with her cards, playing the way the demanded to be played. "Here I go." She would just keep letting the cards decide.

"Alice!" On the way to the stage. another familiar and comforting face crossed her path. "Eric?" Her friend stood outside the ring. "Hey. I saw you win. I'm happy you did, but what are you still doing here?" His duel had been wrapped up one hour ago. "I waited for you, obviously. I had to cheer you on, right?" Eric confessed. "Well.. I wanted to come by earlier.. I had a lot of stuff to say. Things just got in the way. Like I wanted to say sorry to Emily and also ask about what happened to Uno. I also thought maybe I could give you a few tips to help against Adamant. If you win we could meet each other in the semifinals!" He would love nothing more than that. Especially since his dream of facing Uno himself seemed to have gone up in smoke. "Oh.. Thank you, Eric. That helps me a lot. I hope I get to duel you too." That was the request she could be the most truthful about. "Emily did want to talk to you. And Uno is.. missing." Eric deserved to hear about the rest too. "Missing?" His face fell. "Is it because of that Neter kid? Did he do something?"

"She does not have the time to be talking with you, Fusion Guild." Erics questioning was cruelly cut short by Adamant who was sitting on stage. "I am waiting." Time was up, their duel was about to start. "Oh ..He's right. I have to go. I'll talk later. Bye, Eric." Alice went on alone. Eric got stuck with a very crucial question. "Where did he get a chair?"

One could hear the cries of the duelists all around the theater. There were some who shouted Alice's name, many more who shouted Adamants. The mixed feelings of the opposing guilds came out in their words. Half of them wanted to see Adamant fall, the other half felt that their members should have been down there instead of this independent with her newfangled deck. "Pay them no concern. They are just sheep, and their opinions are irrelevant." Adamant had tuned it all out and fixed all his senses on Alice. "You got here, they did not. Nobody can say you did not deserve it." He stated. Possibly due to the fact that there were accusations among the noise. Uno's disqualification had weakened the reputation of the Oddball Guild as a whole. "I know. Uno helped me before, he told me what to do.. if I felt anxious." It had worked a little, his advice. Dueling was just less problematic if you weren't judged while doing it. "Good. Make no mistake, this is not a kindness. I merely want you to be at your full power; mentally and physically. Only then will this duel.." Adamant activated his dueldisk. "..be worth my time!"

Adamants LP: 8000 Alice's LP: 8000

From his personal seat, dragged on stage by his followers, Adamant started the duel. "Raidraptor Tribute Lanius." He normal summoned a monster Alice had not seen before; a warbird(4/1800/400) made from blue metal. "I discard Raidraptor Mimicry Lanius." Even now Adamant did not see a need to explain the effects of his cards. "Oh. That one.." Alice had to stay informed by using the data displayed on her dueldisk. That was how she learned that Raidraptor Tribute Lanius could send a Raidraptor card from the deck to the graveyard when it was normal or special summoned. "I add Raidraptor Return." And that was how Adamant triggered Mimicry Lanius' effect. The mimic bird added a Raidraptor card to his hand, a trap in this case, after it was sent into the graveyard from wherever. The Raidraptor Return trap was placed down in the spell/trap zone along with another trap. "That was my turn. What is your response.. Independent Guild?"

"I.." Alice scanned her hand. She did not have any ritual spells or ritual spell retrievers yet, which was a first. But her opponent did not start with a massive swarm of monsters either, so she could take this slowly. "I summon the Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz." A bearded wizard(4/1500/800) in blue and gold robes. "I will attack with him." The sorcerer raised his staff high above his head to gather energy in the mirror jewel at the tip. "Is she going to fight? Doesn't his monster have more points?" Alice's action confused her mother, who had seen enough duels by now to understand how attackpoints worked. "Wait for it, mom." And Emily knew how the Nekroz worked by now.

"I discard Nekroz of Decisive Arms." During the attack, Alice used the effect of a ritual monster in her hand. "Of course." It added 1000 attackpoints to any Nekroz while it was battling. So Adamant lost his Tribute Lanius to a blast from the boosted Great Sorcerer(2500/800). "You used that card before, in round two. To better effect. Your mistake was using it for offense instead of defense." Adamant was not fazed, he had been counting on his monster to die. "Raidraptor Return." Because his trap card could be used now. When a Raidraptor was destroyed as a result of battle, Raidraptor Return would 'return' that monster to the players hand. "Oh. I didn't think..you would fall for it." Alice placed a trap card of her own down. "My turn is over."

Adamants LP: 7300

"It would have served my purpose either way. The only one to lose something now, is you." For the second turn in a row, Adamant normal summoned his Tribute Lanius. "Mimicry Lanius, again." For the second time he discarded a mimic raidraptor 'from his deck to make it add a Raidraptor card from his deck to his hand. He added Raidraptor - Nest, the continuous spell. "I play these two cards." The spell was activated and a Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius(4/500/1500) was special summoned from his hand in attack position. Alice remembered those two cards. Fuzzy Lanius could be summoned because of the presence of another Raidraptor. "Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius." Frm now on, two Raidraptors together would be problematic. Each turn that Adamant controlled two Raidraptors, Raidraptor Nest would search his deck for a new Raidraptor monster, like the Vanisher, and add it to his hand. "Continuing.." Now he was ready for the battle phase. Raidraptor Tribute Lanius separated its mechanical feathers and pointed them at the Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz. Each segment fired a narrow laser.

"Uh.. wait.. I activate the Spiritual Art of Water!" Just in time, Alice revealed her trap. "I sacrifice my sorcerer, since he is made of water! Then I can take one card out of your hand!" The elderly Nekroz transformed into pure water. The lasers flew over its zone and hit Alice instead. "Interesting choice." Adamant had to reveal his hand in exchange for this free hit. He held four cards. (Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius, Battlestorm, Raptors Gust and Raidraptor Readiness) "I will..choose that one, the counter trap." A trap that could block spells was not something her deck would enjoy, so Alice made Adamant discard Raptors Gust. "You would rather take the damage than allow me my ultimate power." If Tribute Lanius had successfully destroyed her monster, it would have added a Quickplay Rank-up spell to his hand with its effect. "Though, in this state, you will not even live to see my evolution." Tribute and Fuzzy Lanius directly attacked Alice.

Alice's LP: 5700

"Force Strix." Once he was out of the battle phase, Adamant attached both his Raidraptors to XYZ-summon the mechanical owl from his extra deck. Raidraptor Force Strix(4/100/2000) appeared in defense mode. "Raidraptor - Vanishing Lanius." Using its effect, Adamant could add a new dark-winged beast monster from his deck to his hand. Fuzzy Lanius was the XYZ-material he detached. That meant Adamant could also activate Fuzzy Lanius' effect to add a second Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius from his deck to his hand. "I set this. That was my turn." One more trap was set, while Adamant still had four cards in his hand. His resources seemed endless.

"..Oh. I am really going to need rituals now. Please, deck." Alice closed her eyes and drew what waited on top of it. "...Ah!" She summoned the drawn card without a moments doubt. "Manju, with Ten Thousand Hands." The dueldisk visualized it as a ghoulish mutated man(4/1400/1000) with hands and arms growing out of its body and head. It was a little more offputting than Alice had bargained for. "Ew.. I mean. I can add a ritual spell to my hand now." Still the effect was worth it. With its many hands, Manju grabbed a Nekroz Cycle spell card from the deck. "Hmm." Alice could use it to revive the Decisive Arms Nekroz. However there were better options. "I will use this card's effect from my hand too." She discarded a Nekroz of Catastor. "Catastor can special summon a Nekroz back to the field.. not the ritual monsters though." The discarded Nekroz revived the Great Sorcerer(4/1500/800) in attack position. Now that Catastor was in the graveyard, she could recycle it. "Nekroz Cycle.. I will ritual summon Catastor!"

By sacrificing Shurit the Strategist of Nekroz from her hand, treating it as the sole tribute with Shurits own effect, Nekroz Cycle resurrected the ritual of Catastor. The mechanical eliminator from the Allies of Justice series wrapped itself around a seadragon-mans hand like a gauntlet; thus the enforcer/Catastor(5/2200/1200) duo was born. "I can also get a Nekroz Warrior now." The sacrifice of Shurit enabled the Strategists Nekroz second effect; which placed Nekroz of Brionac in Alice's hand. "Catastor attacks." With its new claw, the Nekroz dragon swiped through Force Strix to tear it to pieces. It never stood a chance. "..." Adamant rested his head on one hand and waved his finger above his set card. He did not respond, not to this attack or the ones that came after. "Manju, Great Sorcerer!" In succession the ghoul of many hands and the old wizard bombarded Adamant with direct magic blasts. "Uhmm.. that was it." Alice had no traps to set this time. She was a little worried, and it did not help that Adamant was being so quiet.

Adamants LP: 4400

"Call of the Haunted." When Adamants turn came, he activated a continuous trap card to special summon a monster, Force Strix, from his graveyard. As Call of the Haunted only brought the dead back in attack position, it wouldn't do as a defensive measure. Not that it mattered to him. "The damage I took was a minor cost, to gather the decisive forces!" It began. Adamant normal summoned the first Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius(4/1300/1600) from his hand. "Come to me!" Vanishing Lanius opened the path for another Raidraptor special summon. So the second Vanishing Lanius(4/1300/1600) flew out of his hand. "All of you!" Now that he controlled more than two Raidraptors, Raidraptor Nest had its power reactivated. With the spell, Adamant placed a third Vanishing Lanius Raidraptor into his hand. The effect of the second Vanisher, special summoned the third(4/1300/1600). "One more." Finally, the second Fuzzy Lanius(4/500/1500) Raidraptor was special summoned through its own effect.

"What is he going to do now?" Mrs. Brandt fretted. "What he does best." Emily said with a groan. Adamant had enough materials for his ace XYZ-monster.

Strangely, he did not go for that. "XYZ-summon.. Force Strix." Instead he special summoned a second owl raptor(4/1600/3500) by overlaying two of the Vanishing Raidraptors. "Raidraptor Sharp Lanius." This Force Strix detached one material to place the blade-beaked winged beast in his owners hand. Sharp Lanius(4/1700/1000) was the Raidraptor that Adamant special summoned with the effect of Vanishing Lanius # 3. "Again." Then he overlayed the Fuzzy Lanius with the last vanishing Lanius. The third and final Force Strix(4/1600/3500) soared out of the extra deck. "Raidraptor Singing Lanius." By detaching Fuzzy Lanius from Force Strix, two new Raidraptors were dragged from the main deck. Adamant claimed his third Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius and a new monster. Raidraptor Singing Lanius(4/100/100) was a tiny yellow bird of metal that could be special summoned if its master controlled an XYX-monster. Obviously Adamant met those standards, and obviously he did summon it. The bird filled the only open monster zone and plopped down in defense position.

"Ah. So fast.." Alice nearly lost track. One blink and she was staring at five monsters. "They're so strong." Force Strix(4/2100/4000) gained 500 attack and defense points for each winged beast monster on the field. This effect did not include the card itself, but it did register their copies. "There is enough power here to end it, Alice. Your ritual monster allows all Nekroz monsters to destroy monsters that were special summoned from the extra deck. If they were to attack Catastor or the Great Sorcerer, they would die. However.." Adamant activated the effect of Raidraptor Sharp Lanius. During the turn it was summoned, the Raptor could switch an enemy monster to defense. "This does not apply to monsters summoned from my hand." Nekroz of Catastor was forced out of attack position, and the dragon did not have all that much defense. "What will you do now?" Adamant asked as he moved to the battle phase. "Can you even do anything?!" Raidraptor Sharp Lanius charged straight towards Nekroz of Catastor.

"No. Wait.. yes!" Though she could stop the attack any time she wanted, Alice still scrambled to grab the right card quickly. "I can keep going with this; Nekroz of Valkyrus!" It was another ritual monster that had to be discarded to activate its power. The spirit of the Fabled spellcaster appeared in front of Sharp Lanius. "I have to banish a Nekroz monster from my graveyard, but then Valkyrus can stop your attack and your battle phase." Valkyrus absorbed the spiritual energy of the Strategist Shurit. That energy was channeled through his staff and unleashed on every Raidraptor on the field like a storm of lightning. "Valkyrus.." Adamant did not show that much of a response to his foiled attack. He knew that particular card existed. It was just difficult to predict when it would show up. "Your deck does interest me, Independent Guild. Few would consider ritual monsters to be a useful weapon." Adamant cancelled the rest of his turn. he could get nothing more out of it.

"But I didn't make these cards. I had to use them because dreamworld didn't let me use my own deck." Alice conceded with a deep sigh. This was her fourth duel with the Nekroz. She understood how they worked, far too well. Yet she did not feel as comfortable with them as she did with her Mermails. "Nobody talks about the makers of guns in a warzone either. You are their master, you gave them purpose." Adamant insisted with his unnerving dogma. "But I didn't want to be a duelist just so I could get the strongest cards and beat everyone else! Cards aren't weapons." Up until Adamant, everything had been easy for her. In fact, it seemed easy even now. "But.. me winning will at least make others happy. So if I can win, I will!" She normal summoned Dance Princess of the Nekroz(4/1600/800). "I'm gonna attack!" The Dance Princess, Great Sorcerer and Catastor all had their targets; the three XYZ Raidraptors. The effect of Catastor would make sure her Nekroz monsters would destroy the Force Strixes without actually having to touch them. Manju of the Ten Thousand hands meanwhile had it out for Raidraptor Singing Lanius.

"You are wrong. They are weapons, and this _is_ a war. Only a fool would throw away power when it is handed to them. Your hope, and Uno's hope lies in those cards!" Adamant flipped his trap, Raidraptor Readiness. "Ah!" The Manju's hands were pushed back by an invisible force. Raidraptor Readiness made it so that Raidraptors could not be destroyed during this turns battles. "Raidraptor Return!" Adamant also used a trap-effect from the grave. When a Raidraptor was destroyed by a card effect, Raidraptor Return would banish itself and take a Raidraptor card from the deck. "Raidraptor Tribute Lanius." The last of the Tribute raptors was placed in Adamants hand. "I know the deck you speak of, one of my men used a Mermail deck similar to your old one. He did not make it this far. Your choice was superior, Independ..." Before he could say it again, Alice attacked the one remaining Force Strix(600/2500) with Nekroz of Catastor. If she could not destroy it by fighting it, she would just use its lethal effect instead. That was worth more than the battle damage. "You've dueled a lot. That is why you trouble remembering names, right? If you want to say a guildname instead, can you at least use the real name?" She requested with an exaggeratedly serious tone. "It's the Oddball guild. That is the name me and Uno chose.."

"Very well, Oddball Guild."

(To be Continued in Annex 046: Bridge of Ice and Fire)

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Great Sorceror of Nekroz  
Nekroz of Decisive Armor  
Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands  
Nekroz of Catastor  
Nekroz of Valkyrus

 **New Cards used by Adamant  
** Raid Raptor - Tribute Lanius  
Raid Raptor - Singing Lanius

-  
Raid Raptor - Return  
Call of the Haunted


	46. Bridge of Ice and Fire

**Annex 046: Bridge of Ice and Fire**

Adamants LP: 4400 Alice's LP: 5700

"Just a few more things.." Alice did not want to end her turn yet. Adamant still controlled two Raidraptors. One more and he would summon Rise Falcon. She wanted as many defenses as she could get. "These cards are all linked. With Brionac, I can search any of them." Alice discarded Nekroz of Brionac to add a Nekroz of Unicore from her deck to her hand. "With Unicore, I can save one of them." She activated Unicore's effect too; sending it from her hand to switch it with the Nekroz Cycle ritual spell card in her graveyard. "The ritual spell can summon those ritual monsters that were sent to the graveyard." The Cycle was implemented. The spell ceremony sacrificed both Dance Princess(4/1600/800) and Great Sorcerer(4/1500/800) of the Nekroz. Their levels combined ritually resurrected the demon sage Nekroz of Valkyrus(8/2900/1700). "And the ones who die for a ritual, give something back in return." The tributed set off their respective retrieval effects. Dance Princess targeted a banished Nekroz, while the Great Sorcerer selected a spellcaster Nekroz ritual monster in the deck; putting both cards in Alice's hand. Alice claimed Shurit the banished Strategist and another Nekroz of Unicore.

"Yes. That is the power a duelist requires. Everything connected, every loss if followed by profit." Adamant, as a master of the raidraptor deck, knew the importance of optimization. He could tell which steps Alice was making and had yet to make. "I want to activate the effect of Nekroz of Valkyrus. I have to sacrifice more monsters to do that." Alice said. The Fabled Nekroz sage drew more soul energy into his staff by taking the lives of Ten Thousand Handed Manju(4/1400/1000) on the field and Nekroz of Unicore in her hand. "I get a new card for each old one." Alice drew two cards, a monster and a trap card. The latter was set down. "... I don't need anything else." The turn passed back to Adamant.

"She might actually pull this off." Eric could not believe it. Little Alice was holding her own against a monster like Adamant. "Wouldn't that be nice?" Meridian chuckled at Erics hopes. "Adamant has not even ranked up once yet. I fear your friend will not be standing around much longer after that."

"..I see it in your eyes. You don't think you need to win. You _want_ to win and you also believe you _can_ win. Keep that feeling, and I might get to feel the same way. I draw no joy from crushing someone who has already lost to themselves." Adamant activated a spell card, Allure of Darkness. With it he banished Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius from his hand, and drew two new cards. "...It is time." Adamant activated the Raidraptor Nest spell for the third time to add a Raidraptor Sharp Lanius from his deck to his hand. Then he normal summoned his final Raidraptor Tribute Lanius(4/1800/400). The blue machine bird sent the last Mimicry Lanius into the graveyard with its effect. Mimicry Lanius' effect took a second Raidraptor Readiness trap card from the deck and placed it in his hand. Adamant saw no need or desire to explain this combos anymore. "Rise.." Tribute Lanius, Singing Lanius(100/100) and Sharp Lanius(4/1700/1000) flew into each other. The crashing energies opened a portal. "Raidraptor Rise Falcon!" The winged beast of destruction(4/100/1000) ascended out of the extra deck.

But the fourth rank would not do; Nekroz of Catastor effectively made Adamants Rise Falcons powerless. That was why... "And then.. I activate Rank-Up-Magic: Raid Force!" .. he revealed his new rank-evolving spell to the world. "During your turn?" Alice did not think he had spells like that too. Raid Force targeted Rise Falcon and transformed it. "To me, Raidraptor Blaze Falcon!" The falcon that bathed in the light of Raid Force, pushed the energy away to unveil its blazing red form(5/1000/2000). Rise Falcon and its materials had been overlayed to this higher-ranked Falcon. "Is that bad?" Heather Brandt gathered it was. "Yeah! It can destroy all her monsters in a million ways!" One method had been Kyle's end. Another was an effect that won Adamant his third round match. "Burn" Adamant chose the first, detaching one XYZ-material to destroy all her special summoned monsters. The feather segments of Blaze Falcons wings disconnected and darted through the air like bees to fire their lasers. Each destroyed monster would cause Alice to lose 500 lifepoints.

Alice's LP: 5200

"Actually." But she only lost 500 lifepoints. "I prefer if it would Cool Off!" Catastor was destroyed, yet Nekroz of Valkyrus survived the missile barrage. "What is..that?" What saved the monster was a trap card. "That was a pun. Sorry. I though it would help if I made myself laugh a little. Oh.. or did you mean this card; Impenetrable Defense?" Alice's trap switched Valkyrus to defense mode. And because Valkyrus had more than 1500 defense points, the trap also protected it against all card effects. "That card could not have been a part of a Nekroz deck. It's older than that.." Adamant could understand Alice keeping some of her original traps, since they supported the water attribute. But this one? "Why was that still there?" He demanded an answer. "That card was the one my sister gave me.. I couldn't get rid of that. I didn't want to." Alice kept to herself that she had forgotten that card was in her deck to begin with. The previous three duels ended too quickly for her to draw into his card. _  
_  
".. Again. Direct attack!" Adamant put his feelings aside and entered the battle phase. As long as Blaze Falcon carried XYZ-materials, it could attack directly no matter what monster was on the field. "Eek!" Alice took the hit, and the Falcon retreated back into the skies. "But.. you still can't destroy my monster." Normally Blaze Falcon would blow up a monster after it inflicted damage. Yet the dozen missiles that the XYZ-bird fired from its chestcompartment were also deflected by Impenetrable Defense. Nekroz of Valkyrus refused to die. "You have become unpredictable." Adamant placed two cards down in the spell/trap zone and ended his turn.

Alice's LP: 4200

"I have? Ha... Sis. I think you just saved me." Alice tried to see if she could spot Emily in the crowd below. "Well.. She must have seen that." This moment comforted her, made ehr feel warm. "Draw!" She could still keep going. "Preparation of Rites!" Her drawn card was the spell that prepared both a ritual spell in the grave and a level 7 or lower ritual monster from the deck. "I will take back Nekroz Cycle, what else? And another Nekroz of Catastor!" The spell came from the graveyard and the monster from the deck. "I use Catastor.." She discarded this second Nekroz of Catastor to special summon the Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz from the graveyard. "And Valkyrus too." Valkyrus tributed that Sorcerer, along with a Nekroz of Trishula in her hand, to pull a pair of cards from her deck. Thanks to the effect of the sacrificed Great Sorcerer, a third Nekroz of Catastor could be added to her hand. However, she could not activate Catastors effect again this turn. "Then..I sacrifice Shurit!" Finally, the Strategist was used as the whole tribute once again, the ritual was performed and this time it took the remains of greatest Ice Barrier dragon.

"I Ritual summon Nekroz of Trishula from the graveyard!" Shurit aged into a strong redhaired warrior(9/2700/2000) and he donned his armor of ice. At the same time the tributed Shurit's effect sent another Nekroz of Trishula from the deck into her hand. "You probably know what it can do. So I'll get right to it!" Nekroz of Trishula was every bit as dangerous as its original synchro counterpart. It could banish three of Adamants cards; one from the graveyard, one from the field and one from his hand. "I have known all along, Oddball Guild!" The obvious field target was his XYZ-monster and Adamant would not let her have it. "Emperor on his Throne!" He used his continuous trap card to shield Blaze Falcon. "Huh?" The Throne apparently made any monster in Blaze Falcons monster zone immune to card effects. "Oh? Well.. I banish your spell!" Trishula struck Raidraptor Nest and banished that card instead. Raidraptor Readiness was banished from the graveyard while Battlestorm was banished from Adamants hand. "So... effects dont work. But attacks still do?" She switched Valkyrus back to attack mode. "Gonna try. Get 'em Valkyrus!" The fabled wizard released a bolt of blue lightning from his staff. Blaze Falcon had no means of escape, the blast hit it everywhere and short-circuited it. Blaze Falcons charred body crashed to the ground.

Adamants LP: 2500

 _The Emperor on his Throne, Continuous Trap  
_ _Activate this card by selecting 1 Monster Card Zone on the field. Any monster in the selected zone is unaffected by card effects.  
_ _You cannot set cards. During your turn, you can destroy this card to destroy any monster in the selected zone._

"It will work, because I designed it to." Something seemed to change for Adamant. This act was enough to make him get up from his chair. "Oddball Guild. I am glad you played as well as you did, you have awakened a power in me that noone else in this tournament could stir. And now I shall show the world!" He flipped a quickplay spell card. "Rank-Up-Magic: Raptors Force!" The Falcon was about to evolve again. Raptors Force took the destroyed XYZ-monster and attached it to a higher-ranked Raidraptor in the extra deck. "Raidraptor Revolution Falcon!" Gone was the red and gone were the claws, the Falcon had turned into a black bomber machine(6/2000/3000). "In attack mode?" Alice was shocked, yet confused. His new XYZ-monster was weaker than her Ritual monsters, but not actually. The revolution could not be overpowered. "I..end my battle phase." Unfortunately it was too late to go to defense. "I set two cards. That was my turn."

"You are right to fear my XYZ-monster. Any monster that it engages in battle, will have its power stripped away." Adamant was more eager to exposit about his monsters now. He had not summoned Revolution Falcon for so long. "It may strike each special summoned monster on the field!" He normal summoned Raidraptor Sharp Lanius(4/1700/1000). "Nor is this the peak of its abilities. I activate the second effect of Raid Force!" The normal rank-up spell was banished from the graveyard. So was the Raidraptor Readiness trap in his hand. "By banishing it, I may reclaim Rank-Up-Magic card, Raptors Force!" Both banished cards were the cost of retrieving another Rank-up spell. "No matter what, you cannot avoid defeat." A sea of flames spewed from the thrusters of the Falcons wings. The heat was too much for Trishula(0/0) and Valkyrus(0/0) to bare. "Go! Eradicate all who stand in my way!" The Raidraptor of Revolution surged towards the air far above the theater. From that altitude it dropped its bombs and destroyed both the ritual monsters. "Aah!" It might as well have been attacks on Alice herself.

Alice's LP: 200

"Alice!" Mrs. Brandt could not hold back her scream. Sharp Lanius had no mercy for her daughter; one stab with its beak and Adamant would get his way.

"Wait!" Alice cried out. "...what is it?" As before, Adamant held off his attack. This one kept buying herself more time. "Uhm.. it's just.. since you're attacking directly.." And yet Alice snatched victory out of his hands once again. "I can use Rippling Mirror Force!" She activated a trap that created a large tidal wave. "All attack-position monsters have to go back to the deck now!" Raidraptor Sharp Lanius got swept away by the raging waters. Adamant had to shuffle it into his deck. "Oh?" He did not have to do the same for Revolution Falcon. Since the XYZ-Raidraptor had taken over Blaze Falcons monster zone, it was now protected by the Emperors Throne. "I commend you for coming this far. However we are still on the road towards my victory. This affects nothing!" Adamant activated his trap card's second effect. "Destroy!" The Throne crumbled to dust, and it took Revolution Falcon down with it. "Because my XYZ-monster was destroyed, I can reactivate Raptors Force and evolve again! You tried, Oddball Guild. But in the end the difference between our powers was too great!"

"You're right. I can't keep up. So.. since you're going too fast, I'm going to dismantle the entire race course." He was about to summon something Alice would never be able to stop. The only thing to do, was to seal his summons. "Vanity's Emptiness." She activated a continuous trap. "What!?" For the second time this duel, Adamant was caught off guard. She had not used _this_ trap before in any of her previous duels, and it was not something ritual decks typically appreciated. "You're blocking all special summons? Even your own?" Vanity's Emptiness prevented summons like those of XYZ-monsters and also those of Ritual monsters. Raptors Force could not be activated now, his field did not get its newly evolved Raidraptor. "Do you not want to win?" Adamant was wide open now. But Alice could not possibly summon anything to deplete his remaining lifepoints with that trap on the field. "That's what Liza said too.. Does everyone in the XYZ-guild want to win that much?"

"There are things at stake, matters of importance. We cannot lose, the guild cannot lose!" Adamant raved. He sounded like a completely different man. For once he actually had to fear losing something. "What is at stake? Why are you worried?" Alice might begin to understand the obsessions if he started to explain it. "I cannot tell you. The enemy is everywhere." Adamant ended his turn. "You can't? But I thought you were the boss of the entire guild?" She might have been seeing it wrong, but it sounded like Adamant was taking orders from someone else. "I am the one at the top, it was destined to be me. That is why this.. this cannot be happening. Regardless of what I want, I _need_ this. If even I can not.. Then I never deserved it.."

"You want me to show you, if I can go on? There is one way.." Alice drew her card. "By banishing the Nekroz Cycle spell and a Nekroz monster from the graveyard, I can get a new Nekroz spell card." One of the Great Sorcerers was banished along with the first ritual spell. This time around Alice added Nekroz Mirror to her hand. "When the Great Sorcerer of Nekroz is banished, he sends a Nekroz card out of my deck." A second Dance Princess of the Nekroz was thrown into the grave. "!.." And then Vanity's Emptiness blew up. "That is how?" The Vanity trap would selfdestruct as soon as one of its owners cards went into the graveyard. Alice could freely ritual summon whatever she wished. "Nekroz Mirror!" The mirror spell sacrificed Nekroz monsters that were already dead. The spirit of Shurit was banished from his grave, so that it could cover the entire cost for the ritual. "I summon Nekroz of Trishula!" Alice summoned the second copy of the great Ice Barrier warrior. "Unless you have something in your hand to stop me, this is it!" Adamant only had one card in his hand. It wouldn't save him.

"Uno..the oddball Guild. The Enemy.. How.." It was all slipping away, his destiny, his goals, his championship title. "Alice.." A name pushed it all out. A girl called Alice had done this to him. "You wanted to see what would happen. I'm sorry, but this is it." For a little while she even pitied the man. But she had to finish it. "Direct atta.. No..." If she was going to do this, she would do it with pride and joy. "ABSOLUTE.. ATTACK!" She yelled as loud as possible. The destructive Nekroz fired the decisive blow with a wave of ice.

Adamants LP: 0

"It is.. AMAZING! YOU ARE NOT DREAMING FOLKS, THE CHAMPION OF THE GUILDS HAS BEEN DEFEATED! HE HAS LOST TO NEWCOMER ALICE FROM THE ODDBALL GUILD!" There had been an overpowering silence before Dom came back to the screens. The audience couldn't fully accept that the duel was over, until he spoke. The idea that anyone could beat Adamant, let alone an independent duelist, was inconceivable. "She did it!" The cheers and shouts came in full force once reality settled in. Eric was one of the first to applaud her. "The XYZ Guild is out of the running, before the semis? That's crazy." The other fusion guild duelists were speechless. "Yeah. And its all thanks to her! And me.. dont forget that part. But yeah, you go Alice! Hell yeaahh!" Eric could not be happier. The thought that he would have to duel her eventually was not enough to spoil the fun.

The XYZ-Guild looked on with despair and disdain. "Well now." Ichirou grinned. "Looks like he's not the best after all."

"I can't.. you just did that." Her family was equally befuddled. "Honey.." They had wanted this to happen, and it did. Now they had no idea what to say when she came back to her seat. "Huh? Why are looking so funny? Did I do something wrong? You think I should go back there and bow or something?" Alice was quite calm for someone whose name was being yelled all over the stadium. She had finally rediscovered a bit of inner peace. "Adamant did not want talk to me anymore, so I just left.." Adamant still stood on the stage, quiet as the grave. "Maybe I should go back. Uno would say to to bask in the glory for a little while longer. .. Wait, does this make me the champion?" The details of champion succession were iffy to her. "Oh you really are an oddball. No I think the champion is the one who wins the finals. But still.. that was incredible what you did." Emily sighed happily. "Oh? That's good." Alice was relieved. If being a champion meant having to duel like Adamant all the time, she would get tired after one day. All those hoops one had to jump through just to stay alive, she did not envy him.

"Eehh!" Out of nothing and nowhere came the brightest flash imaginable. "Why? What?" It came from behind them, yet it still nearly blinded them for a good minute. Not many else seemed to notice, they were too busy talking about the recent duel. "This..again?!" Emily recognized the kind of light from the time Uno disappeared. That could mean one thing. "Uno!" He was back. Uno stood in the hallway which had been empty a moment ago. "Girls..I..made it." He let out a content chuckle, before he fell down with his face to the ground. "Ah! Uno! Are you hurt!?" Alice rushed over to him. He was out cold and it had not been the floor that did it. "How does he do that?" This experience was not just a deja vu from the day before. This was the same way they had found Uno back at the town graveyard. Disoriented and unconscious. "Let's get him to the infirmary first! We can figure out where he came from later." Heather suggested. "Right." The sisters nodded and picked Uno up.

They did not make it very far. "I think we should handle him, miss Brandt." Zach and a dozen guards had swarmed the hallway. "See it as a precaution. I do not know where he came from.. but Uno might still be a threat."

(To be Continued in Annex 047: Keeping it Together)

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Preparation of Rites

-  
Rippling Mirror Force  
Vanity's Emptiness

 **New Cards used by Adamant  
** Raid Raptor - Revolution Falcon

-  
Allure of Darkness  
Rank-Up-Magic: Raid Force

 _-  
The Emperor on his Throne_


	47. Keeping it Together

**Annex 047: Keeping it Together**

 _The same dream. The same shapeless fearless nightmare. A duelist had been somewhere and then not. His mind could not handle being stretched thin across two sides. Was this what happened the first time? Was this why he lost his memories, because he traveled to another point in time? Was it going to happen again then? He was unconscious right now, he would forget everything as soon as he woke up. Emily, Eric, Cassius, Adamant, Phoebe, Iria, Zach, Dom.. Alice. In just a month he had met so many people, he would lose them all over again. They knew him now, that was a small comfort. Th world knew the name 'Uno'._

 _No! That wouldn't be enough! It couldn't end this way after everything he had learned! Uno had to keep thinking, keep remembering what happened to get him to this point. He was there, in the ruined amphitheater. He stood in the former hallway, envisioning the past he wanted to live through again. The pendulum jewel met his calls, getting stronger. It lit up, and dragged him back into that limbo outside of time. Uno did not move from his spot but he did move from his time. The jewel would guide him through the void, he would avoid what was around. There was no great eye or gathering of shadows, there was just the feeling of standing on solid ground while the rest flowed backwards like a declining river. Was that what it was? It was hard to physically describe or look at. He did not need the vague parts. What mattered was that he would get back to his friends. He saw them in his last few moments of consciousness. They'd keep him safe. He had to pay them back, he would NOT forget them. He wouldn't!_

"There!" He held on; every memory stayed. Uno opened his eyes, rose from his bed and recognized the world he was in. "I..hm?" Rather, he recognized most of it. He'd never actually seen this room before. It wasn't part of the main infirmary, it looked more like the inside of a fancy hotel. He did recognize the people at the door though, even if they were not the welcome he'd like liked.. "Oh." Men and women of Dreamworld security were guarding the exit. "He's awake?" Luckily they were not the only ones to greet the timetraveler. "Alice?" Alice and Emily stood outside the room. Zach, who was there too, allowed them passage. "Uno? Did you hit your head again? Does it hurt anywhere? Do you remember my name? It;s Alice! A-L-I-C-E! Please tell me you remember! It's okay if you don't but.." One sister was wrecked with anxiety. "Sis. I think he remembers." The other had already assessed the situation accurately. "You are Uno, right?" She could tell from the way he reacted to her sister that he was familiar with her.

"I am." He answered, happily. "Aaaahhh. Hahaha! I am so.. You came back, again!" Alice immediately wrapped her arms around Uno to hug him. "Oof. Careful, careful. My head does hurt." Uno might have avoided amnesia, but that hit against the floor left plenty of physical pain to enjoy. "Uno.. how are you? Last time I saw you, you were not this 'calm'." Emily tried to bring up that subject as delicately as possible. "Oh, that." She was talking about the frenzy he could snap out of before. "I'm not angry anymore. That was not me back then, I think. That's how it feels now. But I suppose this is why you have all these guards here, right?" Uno stared at Zach and raised his arm. There was no dueldisk on that arm anymore. "Officially yes. The master did not know if you would ever come back. He just wanted to be on the safer side of sorry. He would have told your friends. You will also get your cards and dueldisk back as soon as we are done analyzing them." They let Uno keep his pendulum, that was a sort of kindness.

"I'm just glad that he is back. I was worried you would miss all the fun!" Alice chimed excitedly. "Missed the fun? What did I miss? Wait.. how long was I gone?" Uno realized he had no idea how far back he traveled. He could have been a week or month off for all he knew. Nobody looked any older though and it also sounded like the tournament was still going on. "Your absence was noted for 25 hours and approximately 12 minutes. We were curious of course. Where did you go for that time, Uno?" Only Uno could answer that question. Zach was very interested, too interested. "I can't say. That part I forgot." Uno did not want to tell them. Sure he probably would not believe him anyway, but an account of the future seemed like a thing you kept to yourself. Could he tell his friends? Maybe when they were alone., away from all the cameras and listening devices. "Well, that is a pity." Zach did not press the point any further, thankfully. "I will leave 'getting reacquainted' to you two." He bowed and vacated the room. Now they had the time to give Uno the latest news.

...

"Ah. Come in Iria. I did not expect a report this soon, but I love to hear it!" Dom merrily hailed his disciple as she entered his office. "The analysis on his deck has not come in yet sir. This is about his dueldisk." Iria unfortunately could only give him half of the report for now. "The dueldisk you say?" Dom was still listening intently. "Yes. We found no direct evidence of a device that would allow Uno to create his cards. We could fully dismantle the device, but that might make it inoperable. There is that and.." She paused. "And?" Dom tilted his dome. "There is a discrepancy in its logs. There is data in there that does not correspond with anything on our network. The data is scrambled, it could just be an error in the system caused by the phenomenon that displaced him from this theater. However, the rest of the device functions normally.. including its internal clock. According to his disk, Uno has only been gone for ten hours. The machine did not shut down in between his disappearance and return. We do not know how to explain this.."

"Hu-hu-hu.. That does sound interesting." A low cackle intruded on their conversation. "You?" Iria snapped her head around to see this intruder. "How did you get passed security?" It was Dame Phoebe. "A little money goes a long way." She said sweetly while bobbing her head left and right. "A little threat does the same." Phoebe sneered as she made a crushing gesture with her fingers. "Not settling for holographic communications this time, are we?" Dom sighed and turned his chair around to face her. "Sir. Are we letting her barge in like this?" Iria asked with her hand already on her communicator with which she could order more guards. "Why not? Adamant already barged in here." The master shrugged. "Oh he did? That's adorable. He's even the reason for my visit. Indirectly at least." The Fusion leader affected her gentler voice again. "I will not bother you for long, I just have one request. Start the semifinals today." She said with a pleasing smile. "Today? We just had the quarterfinals!" Iria protested. "And the day is only half done. The crowd only got three matches, not four. You can make room for two more. I know the original schedule was for the Finals to fall on Friday, but why wait? Adamant's defeat changed everything. People will actually _want_ to know how it ends now."

"Hmm. What if I decline?" Dom inquired. "We already had his dance, didn't we?" Phoebe laughed and walked away. "I trust that you will see things our way once again. Have a nice afternoon."

...

"Oh. I really should've come back earlier." Not only had Uno not seen Alice beat Adamant now, he also missed Eric's duel. "You'll be able to watch them later. I imagine they record every duel here so they can sell them on discs or something. At least that's what dad is saying." Emily had gotten a phone call from him a short while after Uno passed out in front of them. He had been too happy with Alice's victory to even listen to the part about their friend coming back. "Oh no. He is never going to let that go." Alice moaned as she imagined her father watching those duels nonstop on TV. "That is something to look forward to then. The oddball guild is doing half-well at least." Uno lowered his head. "Everything I did backfired. That kid still got away." It was reasonable to assume that Dreamworld had not managed to capture Neter. They just did not have that kind of power. "Who do you think he was? Did he know you?" Emily asked. "Not me. But he knew about this." Uno took his pendulum out. "I have an idea on what he could be... what I could be, what really made me lose my memories, and where my home is. But you're not going to believe it.."

"Wait.. That reminds me." Alice abruptly shouted. "Eric should be here for this too. He doesn't even know you're back yet!" Eric had been worried just as much as them, he had to be told. "If you can pry him away from the Fusion Guild. Those people are always swarming him." Emily was worried about what could happen if any guild got word of Uno's return. "What would be so bad about that?" Alice on the other hand did not see why the guilds would be interested. "I can come up with a few bad consequences. Whatever one guild knows, the other hears about as well eventually. If Kyle wasn't lying, then the XYZ guild experimented with solid holograms. I actually did pull that trick off, so they could be coming after me now. Though they'd be up creek without a paddle, since I have no clue _how_ I did it." Uno had thought it over. "I think you should tell Eric. He.."

'LADIES AND GENTS! I BRING YOU A TWIST!"

"Now what?" Emily grumbled as Doms screams cut across the park. He was not supposed to announce anything anymore for today. "DUE TO VIEWER FEEDBACK, AND BY POPULAR DEMAND, WE OF DREAMWORLD HAVE DECIDED TO HOST THE TOURNAMENTS SEMIFINALS TODAY!" There was the impetus behind his declarations. "Today? But then I am going to have to duel again?" Alice moped; as if the last duel had not been exhausting enough. Dom seemed to have taken that in consideration going by his next proclamation. "WE WILL START WITH ERIC STONEWELL AND DAME PHOEBE!" Alice was evidently reserved for the second semifinal match. "Eric goes first? Against his own guild? What is going on?" None of this made much sense. Nevertheless it was happening and happening soon. They had to see this "Hey!" Emily's path was blocked by the two guards however. "We apologize but we were ordered to keep this man detained. You two may leave. He has to stay. If he wishes to follow the match, he may use the TV."

"But why is Eric dueling now? Why is Phoebe his opponent? I thought Guilds could not face each other in the tournament?" That was what Cassius had said to her at the start. "I can explain that." Zach showed up from around the corner. "There is a regulation that states that no finale can be between two members of the same guild. A duel between Stonewell and Phoebe would be a pointless conflict when their guild wins the prize either way. Your other question is also valid, but I can't shed too much light on it." That Dame Phoebe had motivated the Master to move up the schedule was no secret to the disciple. Phoebe got what she wanted, at the cost of having to thin her own ranks. "If Uno can't go, then I don't want to go either." Alice did not want to leave Uno now that he finally was here again. "I agree, someone has to stay with him." Emily did not trust Dreamworld with Uno either. Nothing about this was right. "You stay. I'll go down and get mom." Cassius' warnings were getting louder in the back of her head.

...

The former champion of dueling marched into the large tent that the XYZ-guild had put up just outside the amusement park. "I see you received the call, Adamant." There he was greeted by others of his kind, seated around a table. "Why did you arrange this meeting, Roma? Only I can set the schedule." The one who acted like he was in charge was a man of around his age, with long white hair and a uniform similar to Adamants. In fact it was the exact same uniform, one who was reserved for the highest powers in the guild. Though Roma had added a fancy cape to his ensemble. "See. That is the thing, Adamant. That is no longer your prerogative. I am the commander of the Guild now." That was why. "What!? That is absurd!" Adamant growled. "Is it? You became our leader by fighting your way to the top. All this time you had the highest rank, so we followed you. Now you are beaten, by an independent no less." Because of the odds, the outcome had taken that much more points from Adamants overall ranking. Enough to place him below Roma. "You? You are the highest on the chart?" Adamant checked his own dueldisk to confirm it. It was true. "You did not even enter the tournament!"

"That was your choice. You named me your second in command, so I could perform your duties while you were dueling here. I could not _enter_ the tournament." It was no wonder his points had remained the same, he had lost nothing. "Really, you brought this upon yourself sir. If you had just accepted Alice's withdrawal, you would be in the semifinals instead of her. You were overconfident." Ichirou, who was also there, seemed to enjoy what was happening to Adamant. "You know why I had to do that. The greatest power might be lost if we do not claim it as 'duelists'. And who are you to talk to me like that?" The former champion fired back. He would not let someone below him speak such insolent words. "My new second in command, Adamant." Except going by Roma's claims, Ichirou was not below Adamant at all anymore. "Him?" Adamant refused to believe it. "Any would do. Fact of the matter is, you failed your guild as a commander. Skip the superstitions and talk about destiny; you set your own pride ahead of our goals. Now we are eliminated. I do not doubt your skills as a duelist, so you will still lead our duelists for our battles. But I command everything else. And it is time to act."

"What are you going to do?" Roma had a plan. Adamant had intended to achieve his by winning the tournament, he had no idea what Roma would try. "Something we are forced to do, Adamant. This is a question of survival. We have to assume that the Synchro and Fusion Guild are after the same thing. The next duel will begin soon, they can smell our desperation. If we want to succeed, we need hit to round up our most loyal members and hit them before they know it. Now are you in?" Roma and the rest of the guild looked at him with a relentless gaze. "Tch. I am." As if he had a choice. If he wasn't, he would be nobody.

...

"AND HERE WE GO EVERYBODY! I AM GLAD YOU STUCK AROUND, BECAUSE THIS ROUND WILL BE ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS!" The theater was packed, Doms bizarre move had garnered a lot of interested visitors and duelists. A duel of just one guild was not a common sight, certainly not for the semifinals. Eric himself did not understand what was taking place. "Poor poor Eric Stonewell. You wanted nothing more than to reach the final day, and then they pit you up against me." His opponent had a different attitude; Phoebe enjoyed every moment of this. "Are you saying I don't stand a chance?" Now whether or not he was part of her team did not matter when he was being underestimated. "I owe a lot to you, but you did not teach me everything I know!" Eric Stonewell would not pull his punches for her sake. "Less talking, more gutting." Neither would they. It was time to switch on the dueldisks.

Eric's LP: 8000 Phoebe's LP: 8000

"The first turn is mine, as it should be." Phoebe drew five cards. She placed one monster face-down and one trap card. "You came after me, you get it?" His drawphase followed her endphase. "Hey I can also see it my way. I get to have the first battle phase, so your attacks come after mine." Eric smirked. First he would normal summon Fiendish Rhino Warrior(3/1400/900). Then he banished an Infernoid from his hand. "I special summon Infernoid Lucifugus! Or Infernoid Harmadik if you want to be 'PG' about it. Even though that name sounds even worse!" A mechanical demon bird(3/1600/0) escaped the inferno by flying out of it. "Lucifugus can destroy one monster on the field. It can't attack anymore it if does though." Lucifugus released black flames from its beak to incinerate Phoebe's facedown Edge Imp Sabres(3/1200/800). "Direct attack!" The Rhino demon could still launch an assault, and he tried to swat at Phoebe with his bloodred spear. For a second Eric worried that her trap was going to stop him. Then the hit landed. "Scared already? That's a good boy." The girl cackled as she stroked the part of her dress that the holographic spear had impaled. "Just imagine what you will be like when I actually start attacking, heheh."

Phoebe's LP: 6600

"I'm not scared. I am not a boy either!" Eric grumbled loudly. Why was she calling him a boy when she did not look that old herself? She was probably younger than Cassius. "I know a lot of your tricks too anyway." Eric placed a trap card down and ended his turn. When her turn came up, he could activate the standard Infernoid effect that Harmadik also possessed. "I tribute Fiendish Rhino Warrior and get rid of your scissors!" By tributing another monster, the Infernoid could banish the one card in her graveyard. Edge Imp Sabres had that annoying selfrevival power that he did not want to run into. He would like to see her summon something now. He also gained a little boost from the Fiendish Rhino. Because he had sent it to the graveyard, the rhino fiend could send another fiend (Infernoid Onuncu) from the deck to the dead. He'd like to see her try fusion summon anything now. His moves all sounded perfect... So why was he sweating bullets and why was she utterly composed?

"Not scared? I doubt that. You may hide behind your demons and devils, but you cannot hide your fears from me. I am the devil you made a pact with, Eric. I know you are hoping.. praying.. that I can't summon any fusion monsters without my Edge Imp Sabres. Heheheh.. oh you are dead wrong about that!"

(To be Continued in Annex 048: Solid as a Rock)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Infernoid Harmadik


	48. Solid as a Rock

**Annex 048: Solid as a Rock**

Heather had her priorities in order, as soon as the word on the semifinals was given by both her daughter and Dom. "Did that man even consider the people who are watching this on television? Your father might miss it at this rate" All she got when she called James' line was his answering machine. He was probably back at work already. "Nothing we can fix from here, mom. Can we go now?" Emily was impatient. Eric was dueling right now and she did not want to miss that either. There was no big viewscreen around the hotel area. "Of course hon'. Where do you want to watch it? The theater or the hotel?" They could stay with Uno. Eventually though Alice would have to leave. "Honey?"

"...The hotel sounds good." Emily said with a guarded tone. "Is anything wrong?" Her mother caught on, yet did not discern what her daughter was looking at. "Just go. I'll come later. I need to see someone first." Her mother did not question her again. She headed inside the building. Once she was out of sight, Emily made a break for it. _"Just what are all these people..doing here?"_ There had been some changes to the environment; changes she would not have noticed if she had not been inside for a while. Before there were almost no people on the street. Now there were dozens, one in every direction. They were XYZ-guildmembers; men and women in black of class1 or class2. There were so many, more than she thought they had. It was hard to avoid staring at them when they were spreading like an infestation _. "The XYZ-guild is eliminated, right?"_ She did not like this one bit. She had to tell Cassius, maybe he knew something more _. "Sorry, Eric." S_ he could not be distracted by anything else right now.

...

Eric's LP: 8000 Phoebe's LP: 6600

The duel between the two fusion duelists started well enough. However, Phoebe was about to prove that her deck was not so easily torn apart. "Edge Imp Tomahawk!" The two-faced girl summoned her monster, a demonic mouth(4/1800/800) made from Tomahawk axes. "Tomahawk can eat one Edge Imp in my deck to imitate that monster!" The tomahawks discarded a second Edge Imp Sabres from her deck and cut it down until nothing was left. The Edge Imp had become 'Sabres' in name only. "Let the real fun begin; Polymerization!" She took a Fluffal Rabbit from her hand and fused it with Edge Imp Tomahawk. "By fusing a Fluffal with Edge Imp Sabres, I can create Frightfur Tiger!" The body of the rabbit was twisted inside out by the tomahawks. Its shape and colors were altered into that of a striped blue tiger(6/1900/1200). Then scissor blades shot out of its body and its head split open to reveal the Edge Imps demonic eyes. "Great." Eric hadn't seen this one yet.

"Frightfur Tiger adds 300 attackpoints to all monsters on the field, for each Frightfur monster on the field! That's your terror for later. Frightfur Tiger also destroys a number of monsters equal to the number of materials it was made from. That is your terror now!" The tiger(2200/1200) grabbed Infernoid Harmadik(3/1600/0) with one claw and Eric's set card, Call of the Haunted, with the other. It used its scissor blades to cleave through them both. "All of my cards..." He was at her mercy, a fact she relished deeply. "Should I gut you now, hmm?" Phoebe asked Eric, causing him to shudder and take a step back. "Oh. She's only playing, Eric." Dame said all pleasantly. "We're still the best of friends. But I gotta warn you; this next bit is going to hurt." With her right hand, Phoebe activated the effect of Fluffal Rabbit from her graveyard. Since it had been used as a fusion material, she could add a Fluffal-monster or Edge Imp Sabres, back to her hand. The girl went with the latter.

"Fusion Recovery!" With her left hand she played a spell card to recover two thirds of the materials that went into the fusion summon of Frightfur Tiger; Polymerization and Fluffal Rabbit. "!" There were enough resources for a second Frightfur. "This toy of death can be summoned with Edge Imp Sabres and any Fluffal as well! Time for some Poly-merry-zation!" Edge Imp Sabres was forced together with the Fluffal Rabbit. The Frightfur that joined the Tiger was the the hound of scissors; Frightfur Wolf(6/2000/1500). It presence made Frightfur Tiger(2500/1200) add even more attackpoints to all monsters on the field, the wolf(2600/1500) included. "Two materials. My wolf gets to bite you twice." Phoebe explained as she made a chomping sound with her teeth. "My toys, be sure to take a lot of pieces! Ahahahaha!" The attacks came, first the tiger and then the wolf. "Damn it!" Three strikes in a row, Eric hardly had any lifepoints left afterwards. "Ah, the reaper is so close. Come on, Eric. You know you like this as much as I do. Why don't you show me _your_ most terrifying monster?"

Eric's LP: 300

"Huh? Are you trying to help or trick me?" One would think someone from her guild would have a better grasp on her thought processes, but Eric had no such luck. "What? You do not trust me? That really hurts, Eric." The way she kept shifting from one mood to the other made it impossible to prepare for either of them. The only certainty was that he would gain nothing from listening to her. "If I wanted too, I would. But my cards aren't really working with me here." Eric only had two Infernoids in his graveyard, one thanks to the effect of Fiendish Rhino Warrior. Yet he did not have any in his hand. His deck was not helping him out. "...I set these cards." A trap and a monster were placed face-down. The rest was up to her. "Our turn already? Dear us, that is not nearly enough to save yourself." Dame Phoebe sighed as she ran one finger down her right cheek. "But I wont bite the hand that feeds me! Gyaaahh!" She let loose a bloodcurdling scream and sent her Frightfur beasts to go for the kill.

Eric had one last hope. "Yeah, than I will! I activate my trap card! Ferret Flames!" A fiery weasel jumped out of a bed of flames. "You have to send monsters back to your deck, until their combined attackpoints drop to the amount of lifepoints I have left, or less!" The microscopic amounts of lifepoints that Eric had retained turned out to work in his favor. As his opponent would have to send both monsters back to the extra deck now. "300 lifepoints, so I can not control more than 300 attackpoints? Ahahaha, you're such a kidder, Eric!""Regrettably, you did not fool both of us." Dame Phoebe activated the Defusion quickplay spell card from her hand. "Uhhh." Frightfur Wolf split up into its original fusion materials; Fluffal Rabbit(1/300/1200) and Edge Imp Sabres(3/1200/800). "Oh hell." Now only Frightfur Tiger and Edge Imp Sabres were returned to their decks. Fluffal Rabbit had the exact stats that Ferret Flames asked for, so it could stick around. "Hu-hu-hu... Looks like we pulled each other out of his infernal fire again."

"Indeed.. or should I say.. in dead?" The asymmetrical girl flipped her own trap card, Fusion Reserve. With that trap she gathered a fusion material for Frightfur Tiger, Edge Imp Sabres, and reclaimed Polymerization from her graveyard. "Crap." Eric got to watch as she played the familiar old spell again to fusion summon the same Frightfur Tiger(2200/1200) to her field. With one cut from its scissors, Erics face-down Tour Bus from the Forbidden Realm was destroyed and sent to the graveyard. "Come on, Eric. You know what we know. Fusion is the only way you are going to get out of this."

...

When Heather entered the hotelroom, she found her daughter and Uno gazing devotedly at the TV-screen. "Hey mom! Come in, you just missed Eric perfectly pulling a fast one on the Fusion guildlady!" She invited her to come sit on the bed as well. "Alice? Should you still be here? Isn't your duel next?" Her mom noted. It was not exactly a quick walk to the amphitheater from here. "Aw I just want to keep watching for a little longer, can I?" She begged. "I'm positive there'll be a short break in between. Besides this duel is far from done." Uno backed Alice up. He would prefer it if he had some company. "I can see I am not winning this argument" Mrs. Brandt gave in. She sat down and looked at the duel. "I can't tell who is winning. Does Eric have a chance? He is up against one of those guild leaders, isn't he?" She had seen a leader lose already with her own eyes. "He does. I don't think he has as much going for him as your daughter did, tho." Adamant lost because he did not expect certain elements of Alice's deck. Phoebe probably knew every card Eric had put in his. "But that Ferret Flames was one of his old cards! Maybe he's trying the surprise factor as well!" Alice said, standing up for Eric. "He loves his first deck just as much. It feels just like old times..."

"... maybe things can be more as they were, after this. Maybe Eric can quit the guild once he wins." That was what Alice would like to see, a return to the normal. She was not sure if Emily would feel the same way about Eric if he stayed in that guild. She did not want to choose between the two.. And she definitely did not know what she'd do if they both made it to the finals. "If he wins, he'll never let me live it down."

...

"Aaron!" Emily made it all the way to the infirmary without incident. "Emily?" Still she barged into Cassius' room like she was being chased. "..Aaron, I.. are you the only one here?" She was surprised to see no other synchro duelists. "Uhm, yes? When we heard about the semifinals happening today, I told everyone to head to the amphitheater to support Gareth." Gareth, one of the oldest members of the guild, was the last duelist they had that had a shot at being the champion. His opponent unfortunately was going to be someone dear to Emily. "Frankly, I'm glad that I'm not there in the flesh. The gang is happy with your sister for taking out Adamant, and they have nothing against her. But we haven't won a tournament since the XYZ-guild first showed up. Gareth'll do everything to stop Alice." If he didn't, then the Fusion guild might as well have won. "I think there's more important stuff to worry about now. Especially since it looks like I'm the only one who can help you if things go down-hill."

"Hm? Down-hill?" Cassius was beginning to realize that Emily hadn't shown up because of her sisters duel. "Yeah. The XYZ-guild is acting weird. They have people standing in every part of this amusement park and they aren't subtle about it. You know them better than I do; do you think they'll try anything now that they can't officially win the tournament?" As she talked, Cassius' expression changed from perplexed to horrified. "Oh no." A look that set off every alarmbell. "If what Kyle said was true, then winning the tournament might just have been a means to an end. And now they'll try something else to get that end." Cassius got up from his bed. "Whoa, whoa. Can you walk? Should you be doing that? Also the tournament prize was just a blank slate card, wasn't it? What could they do with that?" As far as she had been told, the blank slate could only create more cards. That didn't sound dangerous. "I can.. move." Cassius stood on his wobbly legs. "It's not just the blank slate, it's what's around the program. Dom may not even understand what he is giving away; complete access to the network. I should have seen it sooner.. we have to go and.."

"You are not going anywhere, Cassius." The doorway was blocked, by a man in a black uniform. "You forced my hand, woman." With one click on his dueldisk button he activated a forcefield that surrounded the entire room. "Ah? That is.." That was the exact same trick Iria always performed. The XYZ-guild was no stranger to it either it seemed. "Tanvir? Is it? Why are you here? Who told you to do this?" Cassius tried to speak with a strong voice but the rest of his body was not working with him. He had to sit back down on his bed. "Trying to be friendly with me will get you nowhere, Cassius. You understand how our guild functions. We have a new leader now and with that comes new orders. I was to monitor you here whole your followers were away, unless someone like this woman here tried to relocate you." He glared coldly at the one who had messed up everything. "If you didn't expect me, then you don't understand how other guilds work, Tanvir. We're not all a mob of mindless sheep." Emily was here, and she could fight. "You're not doing anything with Aaron while I am here!" She activated her dueldisk.

Emily's LP: 8000 Tanvir's LP: 8000

"The plan did not count on a dueldisk getting inside the secure zone either. Such a nuisance." Tanvir cracked his knuckles. "You are just one duelist, woman. You can not save him by yourself." He activated his own dueldisk. "I can save him by defeating you. I don't know how you got the technology to make these barriers, but if they are anything like Dreamworlds, then disabling that disk will take care of the rest." Emily drew her cards, as did Tanvir. The first turn was handed to him. "We have the technology because of Dreamworld, that should be clear enough." Tanvir summoned his first monster. "Traptrix Myrmeleo." A pit of sand opened up in one monster zone, and a young girl(4/1600/1200) with devil horns climbed out of it. "When this card is normal Summoned:I can add a "Hole" normal trap card from my Deck to my hand." The XYZ-duelist made Myrmeleo get him a Bottomless Trap Hole card. He placed that trap card, and a second trap from his hand, face down in the spell/trap zones.

"Be careful Emily. Those Traptrix are not as innocent as they look!" Cassius cautioned her. "I can see that. Trap holes are the oldest trick in the book." Emily was familiar with the Bottomless Trap Hole. The minute a special summoned monster with 1500 or more attackpoints dared to touch the ground, a hole would open up beneath him to banish him to the depths. "I'll be careful. I summon Superheavy Samurai Battleball!" Anything she did could set off his second trap. Thankfully, it did not seem to be a card that worked on the little samurai (3/100/800). "That tuner?" Tanvir gasped, as he recognized the threat it posed to his monster. "Yeah." Emily activated Battleballs effect and targeted Traptrix Myrmeleo. "I will use his effect to synchro summon a Superheavy Samurai from my extra deck, with your monster as the nontuner!" The tuner turned to synchronizing rings, and the antlion girl gave up her life to send her four level stars into the rings. "In defense mode, Superheavy Samurai Ogre Shutendoji!" Her newest synchro monster leapt forward. The two monsters had created an ogre(6/500/2500) made from gold and red metal.

"Surprised? Your trap hole is not so useful against this." As was expected from Emily's monsters, their defense outweighed their attack. "Shutendoji can attack while it is in defense position. Also,since I have no spells or traps in my graveyard: I can destroy all the cards in your spell and trap zones." The Ogre used his spiked club to smash both of Tanvirs traps. "Luck is on your side, for now." Bottomless Trap Hole and Dust Tornado were the cards he had to send away. "You had a bad match-up, Tanvir." Cassius said with a grin. "Don't oversell me. The duel is not over yet. Though I am going to hit him as hard as I can, while I can." Emily activated two monster cards from her hand, equipping both to Shutendoji. "Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall and Soulhorns!" The green scale shield and blue horn shoulderplates were added as armanents. The former gave 1200 defense points to Shutendoji(500/3700), while the latter allowed it to attack twice each battle phase. There was no need to get soft on this guy. "Shutendoji, double attack!" Her synchro monster swiped at the enemy with his club and his claw. The first attack staggered Tanvir, the second toppled him. "What the.."

Tanvir's LP: 600

"What did you.." Emily gasped. Her opponent made it appear as if the blows really hurt him. "Ugh. I would not have activated 'It' this soon if I had seen this kind of power coming." He pulled himself up against the doorway; his body clearly stressed from some sort of pain. "It?" What he was referring to, must have been the same thing Kyle referred to two days ago. "You _did_ do it. You did experiment with solid vision." There was no other explanation. "Don't act so high and mighty, woman. Every guild has tried it. We are simply the first to perfect it. The dueldisks Dreamworld made always had the capacity for solid vision. Isn't that right, Cassius?" Tanvir taunted the synchro duelist with his smirk. "I.. we only suspected." Cassius was speechless. "Do not try to feign ignorance. You people know everything we do. Ah, but the woman is new to your guild. She probably wasn't told. Does she even understand who you are, Cassius?" He chuckled. "Hey, you can cut that out, pal. I have known Aaron longer than anyone. He was my friend way before he played his first card. I 'understand' him perfectly. Whatever story you are trying to make me believe, you can stuff it."

".. Oh why am I even talking to you? Your opinion doesn't matter." Tanvir claimed the next turn. He drew a card. "Traptrix Dionaea!" He placed a venus flytrap monster on the field. The tooth-rimmed leaves opened to reveal a young brunette(4/1800/1100) with flowers in her hair. "When this card is normal summoned: I can target 1 "Traptrix" monster in my graveyard and summon it in defense position." Dionaea split the ground open to dig out Traptrix Myrmeleo and bring her back to life. "When this card is special summoned, one spell or trap on the opponents field is destroyed!" Myrmeleo summoned a giant antlion insect from the ground. Its pincers clamped down into Shutendoji's armor and tore Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall off. "Now.. I will XYZ-summon a monster in defense position!" The two traptrixes could be overlayed for a rank-4 monster. "This card; Traptrix Rafflesia!" A pink parasitic plant sprouted from the ground. Its arrival literally cracked the tiles of the room to create space for the monster. "You are still too soft, woman. Now it is too late to finish me!"

(To be Continued in Annex 049: BlackOut)

 **New Cards used by Dame Phoebe  
** Edge Imp Tomahawk  
Fluffal Rabbit

-  
Frightfur Tiger

-  
Fusion Recovery

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell**  
Ferret Flames

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Ogre Shutendoji

 **Cards used by Tanvir  
** Traptrix Myrmeleo  
Traptrix Diaonaea

-  
Traptrix Rafflesia

-  
Bottomless Trap Hole  
Dust Tornado


	49. BlackOut

**Annex 049: Black Out**

Emily's LP: 8000 Tanvir's LP: 600

Inside a large Rafflesia flower was a woman in white cloth, with long pink hair. "Traptrix Rafflesia!" She was Tanvirs answer to Emily's synchro monster. "That is it?" Rafflesia(4/500/2500) did not look that strong, but she had enough defense points to outlast Superheavy Samurai Ogre Shutendoji(6/500/2500) now that it had lost its Soulshield Wall. Emily did not know what else it could do, but she was not one to judge a monster by its stats alone. She would not start here when hidden natures were the entire gimmick of the Traptrixes. "How right you are. This card is unaffected by traps while it has Xyz Materials. Traptrix monsters I control, with the exception of Rafflesia, cannot be targeted by card effects or destroyed. Oh, and most importantly; during either turn I can detach 1 Xyz Material to essentially activate 'Hole' Normal Trap from the deck. Should the requirements be met, of course." Tanvir placed three trap cards down on his field. "Right now, that is not the case. So you may have this turn."

"May I?" Emily would have liked to roll her eyes, had her position been any better. She hated to admit that she could not do a lot against this current setup. "I special summon Superheavy Samurai Big Waraji from my hand." If she could get enough monsters on the field, she could perform another synchro summon. To start with she would bring out the samurai sandals(5/800/1800), since her graveyard had no traps or spells in it yet. "Trap card. Deep Dark Trap Hole." Tanvir countered this with one of his set traps. This trap hole was intended for special summoned highlevel monsters. "Not even going to wait for my synchro monster? Okay then; that card was bait anyway." Hopefully the coast was a bit clearer now. "I can unequip Superheavy Samurai Soulhorns to special summon it to the field." The horned shoulderplates disengaged from Shutendoji and appeared on the field as their own entity(1/0/300).

Unfortunately Emily made a fatal mistake. "In defense position?" The position she had summoned it in was not secure. "Then I activate the effect of Traptrix Rafflesia!" The flower maiden consumed one of the attached Traptrixes. "I activate the effect of 'Double Trap Hole' from my deck! A monster that is summoned in defense position is banished!" This samurai fell down into a pit in the ground as well. "Nhg, you have a traphole for every occasion, don't you?" Now she really was out of ideas, she didn't have enough monsters to synchro summon something. "Interesting. It seems the effect of solid vision are still limited by the range of the holograms." Cassius drew a different conclusion, basing it on the way the holes in the ground did not damage the floor itself. "Aaron, is that important right now?" It was not going to help the duel itself. "No. But it may be that this is part of what the guild needs from Dom, an expansion of this solid vision technology." Cassius was not certain yet. Tanvir was not going to say anything unless he was taken down by Emily. "Kay.." She placed a monster and a trap card on the field, and ended her turn.

"Your interest is not unexpected, Cassius. Would you like to see it in practice, as I use it against your woman?" Tanvir placed a new monster on the field. It started out as a pitcher plant. "Traptrix Nepenthes." Another young girl(4/800/2000) emerged from the plant, one with long blond hair that turned bloodred at the ends. "If I activate a normal 'hole' trap card, I can either claim a Traptrix monster, or special summon it from my deck." Tanvir flipped the second of his set cards, Acid Trap Hole. "I will do so with this." Acid Trap Hole took a face-down monster and flipped it face-up. If it had less than 2000 defense points, it would be destroyed. "Ugh." That was exactly the case for Emily's Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker Armor(1/0/500). The samurai armor fell into a pit of acid and melted down into a green goop. "I shall summon Traptrix Atrax." The effect of Nepenthes summoned the final Traptrix, the silverhaired girl(4/1800/1000) with webbed wings around her body. Both Atrax and Nepenthes hid underneath the shadow of the giant Rafflesia flower, where they could not be touched by effects.

"Great. I guess another XYZ-monster is incoming?" That was one way he could get rid of her Synchro monster now. "Not necessary." Another way was through the effect of a trap card. Tanvir flipped his last one. "Lair Wire! I can banish an insect from my graveyard to destroy a monster you control!" Traptrix Myrmelo the antlion insect was selected. Its banishment left behind a tooth-filled hole beneath Shutendoji. The Samurai was dragged into it by a web and the hole closed up. "I can smell schemes from miles away, you were hoping to use your trap to stop me. Why would I give up the protection my XYZ-monster provides them? I wouldn't." He started the battle phase. "Now then. Savor these direct attacks, synchro duelist! This what Cassius expected you to endure for him!" The Traptrixes came out of the shadows not in their innocent forms but in their monstrous forms. Atrax the trapdoor spider fired a shot of webbing at Emily's feet. "Guh!" She was pinned down long enough for Nepenthes the Pitcher Plant to strike her with its spiked vines. "Gaaahhh!" She was knocked to the ground.

Emily's LP: 5400

"Emily!" Cassius made another attempt top get up, but he stumbled over his own feet. "Stop this! She has done nothing to you!" He pleaded. "Heh! You're so pathetic now, Cassius; groveling for the sake of another just because you cannot face me yourself. That accident made you lose your worth as a fighter!" Tanvir ended his turn. "Geh.. This is my own choice, you know." Emily succeeded in getting back up. "Oh? I would have thought the pain would keep you down." Tanvir was a little impressed. "Ha, that was nothing. As a kid I did all kinds of stupid things that got me hurt. If that is the best you got, than you can just pack it up." She said with a slight grimace. It still hurt like hell; as if a big branch had fallen on her. "So you do not know who attacked Cassius either?" Tanvir used the word 'accident'. The XYZ-guild was clearly capable of doing what had been done to Cassius, yet they were not aware of what really happened? "He was attacked? Not by us, I can assure you. We would not use such tactics. Our dueling is pure and attacks direct. You will see soon enough!"

"Soon? No time to waste then." Emily drew her next card, and she was happy to have it. "I special summon Superheavy Samurai Transporter!" This time the samurai was a mailman(5/1200/1800), a red robot with wheels on its feet. "Transporter can be summoned when I have no traps or spells in my graveyard! The same condition applies to using his effect!" To use that effect she had to tribute the Transporter. The mailman disappeared from the field. "Transporter special summons one or two monsters from my hand to your field, and I draw a card for each Superheavy Samurai that was summoned!" The tuner she could not safely bring out last turn, Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter(2/300/600), was now given to Tanvir. It was summoned in defense position. "I will gamble it all, what do you think about that?" Emily drew her next card, and it had to be good. It was. "Giant Rat!" The overgrown rat (4/1400/1450) placed itself on the field."Either you were too confident in your own monsters, or you under-estimated mine. But now I have a straight line towards victory!" One attack against Traptrix Nepenthes would settle the duel perfectly.

"I have done neither, woman!" However Tanvir responded with Rafflesia's effect. "Endless Trap Hole!" The XYZ-monster used up its last material to activate the appropriate trap hole card. "A monster that is summoned will be switched to face-down defense position and stays in that position!" Transporter still had to ignite his effect while Emily controlled it. So the Traptrixes could capture him in their trap and Atrax would even summon another of her kind.

Except.. Emily had spun a trap of her own. "Your monster is out of materials now, isn't it?" Emily activated the set Breakthrough Skill. "I will negate your monsters effect for the rest of the turn!" It targeted Rafflesia. "What!? How?" The power of Tanvirs XYZ-monster fizzled out. "Easy. Paying the cost happens first, so your Traptrix lost its immunity to traps as soon as you detached that card. And I noticed how Rafflesia does not activate the traps themselves, she sends them to the graveyard to make their effects her own. That meant I could negate your Nightmare Trap Hole with a card that stops monster effects! Now I believe I was about to attack Nepenthes!" Emily entered the battle phase. The rat tore up the weakest Traptrix on Tanvirs side. "Kgh..Kgaagahahhh!" The XYZ-duelist received the remaining energy as a shock to his entire body. He fell to the ground, as sparks flew off his uniform.

Tanvir's LP: 0

"Gah! Is that what the loser gets?" Emily shuddered. "He would have done the same to you. You won, you rescued me." Cassius cried a cheer of celebration. He could even lift himself back up for this. "Don't push yourself. Come on, I'll help you." She walked over to his side, but the sound of laughter stopped her. "Gah! You're still awake?" Tanvir was on the ground, injured and exhausted. That did not dampen his amusement. "If you want to leave.. heheh, to warn everyone? You are too late." He coughed. "Too late? Why? What are you going to do?" Emily picked him up instead and looked him right in his smirking face. "What that ritual girl made us do. This is a war. I did not make in time to stop you, but I did delay you." His answers were frustratingly unclear. "Ritual girl? My sister?" Emily growled. "Sister? I didn't realize. You losing duelists all look the same to me.. to us. Heheh..." Inevitably, Tanvir passed out from his injuries.

"Damn.." Emily reached inside her pockets; they were empty. "Ahhh, don't tell me.." She had left it in her hotel room. "Crap! We gotta move, now!"

...

Eric's LP: 300 Phoebe's LP: 6600

At the same time as Emily's fight, Eric went through his turns with Phoebe. It was his turn once more, and his deck finally offered him a way out of his situation. "Void Imagination." It was the continuous fusion spell for the Infernoids; the only way he could bring out Infernoid Tierra. The last few duels his maindeck monsters were enough to overpower his opponent. This time he needed it. "Maybe you have a point." He could only activate this effect while she controlled her Frightfur Tiger(6/2200/1200). Void Imagination would not work if the opponent had not summoned any monsters from the extra deck. "I do want to see my scariest monster... It has been too long! I activate and tribute Void Imagination!" By cracking open six orbs of its own infernal tree, the void spell started the fusing process. Infernoid Onuncu, Lilith and four other Infernoids in Erics main deck were sent to the graveyard. Their spirits merged into one being, the titanic hell serpent Infernoid Tierra(11/3400/3600). "Finally."I thought you'd never get around to this." The fusion guild leader smirked.

"Happy now?!" Because Infernoid Tierra had used more than 5 fusion materials, it could awaken two of its four powers. The Infernoid discarded the top 3 cards from the main deck and from the extra deck. Now Eric had 11 Infernoids waiting in the grave. "Quite." Dame Phoebe smiled. She had what she wanted, three Frightfur monsters in her graveyard. "Well. I have seen all your duels, and there is not a single fusion monster you have, that can beat mine! Qell maybe that Tiger, but that is who I am killing now!" The battle phase started. "Tierra! Send the Frightfur to hell!" The fused serpent gathered six spheres of crimson flames. They were cast down towards the Tiger death-toy. Its fur was set on fire, and soon the rest of it burned as well. Metal melted and limbs turned to ash. "Pity I had to ruin such a nice lifepoint score. But hey, things are finally looking up!" Eric placed two cards down and ended his turn.

Phoebe's LP: 4400

"Hu-hu-hu. Things are looking up? What a lovely expression." Phoebe said as she chewed on her nail. "You aren't escaping hell so easily. Not when I have you right where I want you." Phoebe drew her next card. "There are so many ways for you to die, I don't know what to choose. They're all so visual and you like that don't you?" She toyed with the card in her fingers, not giving a care about whether or not Eric could see the topside. "What're you going to with just one card?" He made an effort to appear undaunted, to hide the dread he was feeling inside. "One card is all.. we need." Phoebe slammed the card on her dueldisk. "We activate Frightfur Fusion!"

And, right in the middle of this spell cards activation, the disk shorted out. "Ha?" The lights dimmed and the screen shut down. "Did you..did you break it?" Eric almost assumed, before his own dueldisk suffered the same symptoms. "Hey. Hey!" Infernoid Tierra vanished. "I was using proper cards this time! What gives?" This couldn't be a simple case of illegal card detection. "It is not just us, Eric." Dame Phoebe listened to the rising commotion in the theater ring. Hundreds shouted about malfunctions in their dueldisks. Every last device had been turned off. In fact it was worse than that, every mechanical appliance had been fried. The big screen blacked out, the holo- grid was down, and the power generators stopped giving energy. The hotel which Uno was kept at lost power too. Uno and Alice, and the rest of the world, could not see what was happening at the theater anymore.

"Silver? How did this happen? Did we overload the system? I thought we had backup generators for that!" Dom was in the dark, literally and metaphorically; even his skybox was affected. "I don't know sir. We detected an anomaly in one of our servers and a surge in power just before the blackout. Whatever caused this, it was forced by someone. We are cut off from the outside world." With coms down, it would be impossible to analyze the situation or to determine the effect's range. The perpetrators could go about their business without being seen. "Was it a virus, an EMP? What do we still have left?" This power outage could have affected the whole park. "Few items. We.. hold on. Sir? Look outside!" Iria turned her attention to the windows. New lightsources popped up in the theater. "What on earth?" Not every duelist had lost the functions of their dueldisk. "The XYZ Guild!?"

Duelists in black uniforms were all over the building now, in every exit and on every level. "Ladies and gentlemen!" Their commander, Roma, stood in the center of the theater, speaking through a headset that amplified his voice. "There has been a chance in today's schedule." He affected a mocking imitation of Doms own voice and stared right up at the skybox. "Guards, what are you doing!? Seize him!" Iria shouted at the security staff. If she could not use the communicator to send the orders, she would yell them herself. "Right!" The bodyguards rushed down the stairs. They had the weapons here, it did not matter much if they were outnumbered. "Not a good idea.." Unless the enemy had weapons of their own. "Now!" Roma gave the command to his followers. They placed a card on their disk and created holograms of various XYZ-monsters. "What?" Each monster was pointing their blade or gun at the guards and the audience. "Adamant.." And to fully demonstrate their threat, Roma made Adamant summon his Raidraptor Rise Falcon. "..." Adamant silently followed Roma's commands and had Rise Falcon fire a missile at a spot in the ground. The missile exploded and left a deep crater. "It..it was real?" The crowd collectively cried out.

"Now that we have your attention!" Roma silenced the panicked cries of the public. "I shall give our demands!" His eyes turned towards Dom. "We want full access to the network, to the blank slate program and to your archives, Master of Dreamworld! If you do not comply, there will be consequences! You have seen what we are capable of! So come down and give us what we want!" As Roma waited for an answer, Dame Phoebe slowly walked towards him. "Hold your distance!" Several XYZ-duelists appeared to surround her with their duel monsters. "Or you will do what? I am genuinely curious. You speak of consequences.." The monsters had little intimidation power over her. She casually stroked the blade of one monster just to see if it could draw blood. "Destruction? Execution? How far are you willing to go for this, Roma?" The blade left a small cut on her finger. It did not bother her. "As far as Dom will take it." Roma grunted. "Hmmm, I hope he has the stomach for it then. Heh, so this was your backup plan? Were you worried I would get to it before you did?" The girl cackled. Roma had heard enough. "Take them away, keep them where they belong." Several of his men escorted Phoebe and Eric off the stage. "Hey!" Eric could not believe what this guy was doing.

"I am here, Roma." Two left the stage, one entered. "I will give it to you if you let everyone go and restore the network. You do not need hostages and we kinda need to be online to get the data." Dom was ready to negotiate. "Ah you came without either of your disciples? Good listener." Roma rubbed his hands together. "But you do not make the demands. We can still use the network, but everything we want is hidden behind your security measures. All you must do is tell us what the codes are and we will handle the rest." Roma's tone quickly made clear that he was not here to bargain. "Do you think you can get away with what you are doing? You wouldn't do this for the blank slate program, so what are you really after?" Dom just did not see what made the XYZ-guild desperate enough to try this. "I believe I said, no questions.. didn't I?" Roma glanced at one of his subordinates. The duelist nodded and summoned his King of Feral Imps. "You have no power to stop us, we made sure of that." The monsters claws reached around the head of Dom.

"Oh you did. You also helped me figure out what you did to the network. I have a funny story about that." The claws were slapped away by a great black dragon; Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon had been made manifest. "Gah!" Roma flinched and took a step back. "You missed one disk." Dom raised his arm. Uno's dueldisk as strapped to his wrist. "If you want your prize you will have to duel for it, Roma!"

(To be Continued in Annex 050: On Equal Terms)

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Transporter

-  
Breakthrough Skill

 **New Cards used by Tanvir  
** Traptrix Nepenthes  
Traptrix Atrax

-  
Deep Dark Trap Hole  
Double Trap Hole  
Acid Trap Hole  
Lair Wire  
Endless Trap Hole


	50. On Equal Terms

**Annex 050:** **On Equal Terms**

"Why has all the stuff gone out?" Many people had many questions about the state of the amusement park, nobody had an idea about what was going on inside the amphitheater, not even Uno. "It seems like a power outage. Maybe it is something local?" Mrs. Brandt went with the logical assumption. Wide-scale power failures could start from the slightest of errors. "I do not think so. This place draws energy from one of our own Dreamworld generators. And.. my earpiece is dead." One guard tapped the side of his ear, to no effect. "Mine too. The phone is out as well!" This was such an uncommon and worrying development that the guards broke out of their stoic demeanor. "Everything? So it's like.. an Electromagnetic Pulse?" Alice guessed. "EMP? That's not something you get by accident. Someone wanted this to happen." Uno got up and moved towards the exit of the room. "Sorry, sir. We still cannot allow you to leave." The two guards obstructed his path. "This is not the time! Who knows what could be happening out there?" Uno implored for them to reconsider. But the guards refused to budge. "We have our orders. Until we get new ones, we will follow these."

"So much for thinking on your own." Uno muttered.

...

"What is the matter, tough guy?" Dom taunted the XYZ-Guild leader as his own XYZ dragon stood tall over all the other monsters that the guild had summoned. "You have a look on your face that says 'oh how did he do that?' Good thing I had a short speech prepared for this occasion! Ahem.. With proper manipulation of light and energy fields, any hologram can be made solid. Of course you can't really call them holograms anymore at that point. Obviously I figured it out way faster than you did, but it's good to see you got the hang of it eventually. Or bad.." He said with mocking laughter. "That is not the issue here, Dom." Roma kept a stern face, yet his twitching hand betrayed his irritation. "No, it isn't. Is it? Let me tell the audience how you managed to put them in this position. Given that my dueldisk and your dueldisks are unaffected, we can rule out an EMP-device causing this ruckus. It'd probably be too heavy for you to carry around. So you must have uploaded some virus to cause a local system shutdown or whatever the technical term is. Anything online was glitched out. Real clever; I didn't take you for the hacker types. Luckily I had a disk of a friend, one that is not an official part of the network."

"That is not what we mean, Cardmaker. You are one duelist. You managed to find a functioning dueldisk, but you cannot stop all of us." There were hundreds of XYZ-troops in the theater, each with at least one solidified duel monster. The odds were on their side. "Exactly! So I made it so that I do not need to. Because I said the magic word 'duel'." Dom patted Uno's dueldisk. "You didn't think I would leave a few fail-safes in a device that could potentially unleash pure destruction? You worked your way around some, but not all of them. Perhaps that is even why you want full access; to have a complete understanding of my hologram technology. You cannot get that from ." Not even the people at Dreamworld understood how the disks worked. He had designed the disk and programmed the machines that created the hardware. Human hands never entered that process. "The Duel." Adamant spoke up. He understood what Dom was saying. "As long as we use the dueldisks, we must accept a challenge. That is his final failsafe."

"Must we?" Roma tested it out with his own disk. "Apparently so." He could not visualize a new monster. Every monster within close proximity was put on standby. This cut their effectiveness in half, since they failed to smuggle actual weapons into the park. "Any threat that comes near you is suspended. But with this, only you are protected." If Roma wanted to, he could direct his holograms towards some spectators. "It is me you want, not them. You just need to defeat me, and all your problems will go away." Dom all but dared the Guild to face him in a fight. "Ichirou." Roma at first thought about simply having his second in command take care of this pest. "..." That he did not even ask Adamant, did not escape the former champions notice. "Wasn't talking about them, Roma-man. I was challenging you. You're not scared of me, are you?" That comment got a reaction from Roma. He detached the cape from his uniform and inserted his full deck into his dueldisk. "Ichirou. I will deal with this man. You and Adamant will go to secure the Disciples."

Doms LP: 8000 Roma's LP: 8000

"That is a yes then." Dom also prepared his cards. "Yes. Once this duel is over I will release these bystanders, the nonduelists do not concern me. But do not misunderstand; there is only one thing I fear and it is not you. You will not defeat me, so the outcome is the same regardless. Draw your cards, Cardmaker." Roma was confident enough apparently to hand his opponent the first turn. "Way ahead of ya!" Dom drew his five cards. "There is one good thing coming out of all of this. At least everyone will get to see my new Performages in all their glory! There are no monsters on the field, so I can special summon Performage Stilts Launcher from my hand!" A redhatted circus magician(6/2200/0) walked to the stage on massive stilts. "Or some level of glory." Without the enhancements from the stage and the screen, only the people up close could tell what was going on. That was a pity. "Your turn, pal."

"I am not your pal... I normal summon Super Quantum Green Layer." Roma brought out his kind of monsters. The first was a masked wind-elemental spellcaster(4/1600/1400) who wore a caped outfit much like the Guildleader. This one had the color green as its name demanded. "When I summon Super Quantum Green Layer, I can special summon another Super Quant-monster from my hand." Roma special summoned a second Super Quantum Green Layer(6/1600/1400) "I XYZ-summon." Little time was wasted with him. He overlayed both Green Layers to create a rank 4 XYZ-monster. "Super Quantal Mecha Beast Aeroboros!" The Quantums piloted their own machine, a green mecha-bird(4/2200/2400). It jumped into the air and stayed there to loom over Dom. "Aeroboros can switch one monster to face-down defense position." By absorbing one XYZ-material, the Mecha Beast created a tornado of green winds. The Performage was robbed of his stilts and knocked to the floor. "Additionally. When Green Layer is sent to the graveyard, even as an XYZ-material, I can discard one Super Quant card to draw a new card." Roma discarded what appeared to be the level 3 variant of the Super Quantums, in order to refresh his hand. Now that Stilts Launcher was in face-down defense position, Aeroboros could kill it. "Attack!" The Green Mecha barreled downwards and tore the Performage in half with its razorsharp teeth and claws. After that, Roma placed a trap card down and ended his turn.

At this turn, Adamant and Ichirou arrived at the skybox. "You are still here." Zach was not there, but Iria was. She would not leave her master out of her sight a second time. "I can see why. This place looks comfortable, fit for a king." Ichirou placed his hands on the soft couch in the back. Iria felt an outburst welling up inside her, but she kept her lips sealed. "You do not want to talk? I understand. This must be very difficult for you. Normally you would have trapped us wrongdoers in your barriers. Well we couldn't allow that." The XYZ-duelist went on to check out the rest of the room. Adamant was scanning the room too, for a more essential purpose. "The other, where is he? Answer me." Everyone had to be accounted for. "I do not know. You cut our communications. He could be anywhere by now." Iria gave him his answer. It was an inconvenience, but also the truth. "Tch. He would be wise not to try anything. If he is inside this building, he is not getting out. Just play along, and you will all go free."

"And then what will you do?" Iria inquired. "...That is our concern." Adamant said nothing more on the matter.

Back at the duel, Dom stalled his drawphase. "Quants eh? Didn't see that coming from a serious guy like you." Dom was as familiar with these cards as he was with any other. He'd have to be if he had to review every single creation in his company. "The shape matters not. The function does. Get on with your turn, Dom." Roma muttered impatiently. "Yeah yeah; its all business with you guys. That's a shame, you miss out on a lot of fun that way." Dom had some fun ideas already "Hmm. I summon the Mathematician!" This time it was not a performer, but an scholarly wizard(4/1500/500) with an immensely long beard. "Thanks to the Mathematician I can send one level 4 monster from my deck to the graveyard. I am sending this guy here, Performage Damage Juggler!" Dom cast the juggling performer into the grave. From there _its_ effect could be activated. "I banish the Juggler, to add another Performage from my deck to my hand!" In this case Dom went with Performage FlameEater. He added that monster to his hand. "I set a monster and two spell or traps! There, that was my turn."

"You could have gone with any deck, and you chose something like that? You're trying to trick me somehow." Roma did not know what Doms strategy was yet, these cards were too new. "Super Quantum Blue Layer." Roma normal summoned the second member of the Quantum rangers, the female psychic in blue(3/1200/2000). "Oh come on. You can't anounce a name like that! You gotta add flair and drama!" Dom sighed. "Be quiet. I activate the effect of Blue Layer. Once per turn, it can add a new Super Quant-card from the deck to my hand when it is summoned." Now a level 5 variant was added to Roma's hand; Super Quantum Red Layer. "Then I activate XYZ Energy. This spell destroys a face-up monster by detaching one XYZ-material I control." Aeroboros detached its last material by firing it at the Mathematician like a missile. The old wizard blew up before he knew what hit him. "I discard Quantum Red Layer." As a result of another Green Layers trip into the graveyard, the discard/draw effect was reused. Red went into the grave, one new card came from the deck.

"This activates the effect of Quantum Red Layer! As it is sent to my graveyard, It special summons another Super Quant-monster from the graveyard. I special summon Super Quantum Blue Layer!" A second female blue ranger(3/1200/2000) popped up from the ground. "I XYZ-summon Super Quantal Mech Beast Grampulse!" The blue duo joined as one. They commanded not the skies but the seas, as they were attached to a twin whale-submarine(3/1800/2800). "By detaching a card from Grampulse, I may destroy one spell or trap card. The target is obvious.." One of the Blue Layer pilots left the Mech Beast and was fired off like a torpedo of blue energy. "You really want to do that? Hey, your funeral." It turned out that it did not help Roma, because this was a trap that could be chained to his monsters effect. "Ring of Destruction!" Dom activated the ring of grenades that clamped around the neck of the green Mech Beast Aeroblast. "We all remember this one, yeah?" The grenades exploded, and the rings victim died with it. First Dom took damage equal to half the monsters attackpoints, and then Roma did as well. "Kff.. so that's what that feels like." The blast did not reach the players directly, but the heat and pressure felt overwhelming.

Doms LP: 6900 Roma's LP: 6900

"Ring of Destruction? Awesome! Wait, wasn't that banned?" Eric was surprised to see an old classic in holographic form. "It was remodeled, so that it could be sold again to the masses." Meridian explained. That was how money and cards worked these days. "Be quiet up there." The XYZ-trooper closest to them shouted to end their small talk.

"That trap has lost its sting, cardmaker. You're only making us weaker as a whole with those erratas.. Hmph." Roma ordered his remaining Mecha Beast to attack. Granpulse rushed towards Dom, surging through invisible water. "On the contrary, I make duelists stronger! If I did not change cards all the time, the power would creep out of control!." Dom casually deflected the attack by discarding a second Performage Damage Juggler. "!?" Damage Juggler could reduce the next battle damage in a turn to zero if it was activated from the hand this way. "Your cards are adept at survival, that is true. However we need more than that, we need a way to fight back."

"Fight back? Against who? The guilds? If you ask me you're taking the game a bit too seriously. I think the audience would agree!" Dom shouted loudly. Without the sound amplifiers, he only had his own voice to work with. "The real enemy is everywhere, Cardmaker. Words must be spoken carefully. You do not even realize who you are working with. But we do.. we waited a whole year for this, ever since you created the perfect cards for us to start our guild." Roma ended his turn. "Ever since eh? Maybe XYZ-monsters were a mistake. On the other hand, it's not the card but the duelist who's to blame." Dom banished the second Damage Juggler from his graveyard, to add a second Performage FlameEater from his deck to his hand. "Well.. Fight fire with fire, they always say! I summon Flame Eater!" The first flame eating wizard(4/1200/1600). "And that pun was not intentional! Now when I summon Performage FlameEater, both players take 500 points of damage. However!" His second FlameEater(4/1200/1600) appeared after the first. "FlameEater can also negate effect damage to special summon himself!" The fire-blasts of the first were devoured by the second Eater. This Mage instead inflicted 500 points of damage to each player. "Oof. Watch the coat." The flames that came out of Flame Eater were of course flammable now. They nearly singed his priceless yellow-gold outfit.

Doms LP: 6400 Roma's LP: 6400

"Can't handle the burn?" Roma chuckled. He was used to this kind of pain. "Oh so you can laugh. Well Roma. You liked the first hit so much.. here's some more! While there's a Performage the field, Performage Stilts Launcher banishes himself from the graveyard to add 2000 points to effect damage that was dealt already!" The stilts that lied on the ground started to tremble. "What?" Both exploded around Roma's feet and cut even more lifepoints away. "Gggh!" This time Roma was more than just irritated by the damage.

Roma's LP: 4400

"Anyway. Where was I? Oh, of course. The proverbial fire!" His Performages were attached to each other. "I can only summon Performages once I special summon a FlameEater. So let me introduce everyone to the rank 4 Performer! Performage Trapeze Magician!" The masked trapeze artist(4/2500/2000) came down from the sky, spinning all the way. "Go forth, Trapeze Magician!" The Magician grabbed its trapeze bar and swung it as if it were a staffweapon. With one swift hit, it destroyed Mech Beast Grampulse. "I'll give you and your people one thing, Roma. I cannot deny that these monsters are very effective!"

Roma's LP: 3700

"They are." Roma subdued his pains and took the turn that came to him. "Some more than others... I control no monster cards, therefore I can special summon Super Quantum Red Layer." At last the leader of the Super Quantums arrived, the masked warrior(5/2000/800) in red. "When Red Layer is summoned, a Super Quantum card from the graveyard can be returned to my hand." The Red Quantum slashed the grave apart with its clawed gauntlet and dug up one of the Super Quantum Blue Layer cards. "I normal summon Blue Layer!" The female Quantum joined the red leader. With her effect, she placed a new Super Quantum card in Roma's hands; a field spell. "I place Super Quantum Mecha Ship Magnacarrier on the field!" A massive carrier ship popped up below the clouds. "By giving up one card, Magnacarrier can use one Super Quantum monster as a material for the XYZ-summon of a Super Quantal monster that has the same element! You have seen Wind and Water. Now you will see Fire!" Roma discarded one card to activate the field spell. The Magnacarrier targeted Super Quantum Red Layer, dragging it inside.

"I XYZ-summon Super Quantal Mech Beast Magnaliger!" Red Layer came out of the Carrier, as he now piloted a a red mechtiger(5/2600/2000). "You are probably already aware of the fact that Mech Beasts cannot attack without XYZ-materials, and to compensate for that they can attach Super Quantum cards to itself; one from my field or hand." The Super Quantum Blue Layer on the stage was converted into energy and pulled into orbit around the Red Super Quantal as a second XYZ-material. "Cardmaker, you failed to show everyone the true power of your XYZ-monster. I will remove it with mine! Magnaliger can destroy one monster card on the field each turn!" The blue material was detached and absorbed. Magnaliger released a jet of flames from the tigers mouth. The Trapeze Performage was consumed by the fire. The colliding energies caused an explosion that sent real smoke out into the theater.

"Oh man. That's noisy." Dom could be heard coughing inside the smoke. "But you wanted to see the powers of my XYZ-monster? Well you're in luck!" The smoke cleared.. "What the.." ..and a new Performage now stood where Trapeze Magician had once been. "When Trapeze Magician is destroyed by my opponent, he special summons a new Performage from my deck. In defense position obviously. Say hello to Performage Trick Clown." It was a colorful clown(4/1600/1200). It stuck its tongue out at Roma as it balanced itself on a ball with its hand. "When will you take this seriously, cardmaker? Rgh! I Attack it!" Magnaliger bounded towards the performer clown and ripped it into explosive confetti with its metallic claws. "Time for another trick! When Trick Clown goes to the graveyard, another Performage will be special summoned from that graveyard! While I take 1000 points of damage!" The damaging confetti caused enough confusion to sneak one Performage Flame Eater back unto the field. Of course it also inflicted its effectdamage to each player as it was summoned. "More and more of these pests.. are you trying to buy time with them?" Roma placed a trap card down and ended his turn.

Doms LP: 4900 Roma's LP: 3200

 _"Wasting time?"_ Dom chuckled to himself. Roma was only half-right. The master was _buying_ time, for his other disciple to do his work. _"Almost there."_ On the inside of his mask was a status-screen that showed a lading bar. It was two-thirds done. _"Then you're gonna get the show of a lifetime."_

(To be Continued in Annex 051: An Exact Change)

 **New Cards used by Dom  
** Performage Stilts Launcher  
Mathematician  
Performage Trick Clown

-  
Ring of Destruction

 **Cards used by Roma  
** Super Quantum Green Layer  
Super Quantum Blue Layer  
Super Quantum Red Layer

-  
Super Quantal Mecha Beast Aeroboros  
Super Quantal Mecha Beast Granpulse  
Super Quantal Mecha Beast Magnaliger

-  
XYZ Energy  
Super Quantum Mecha Ship Magnacarrier


	51. An Exact Change

**Annex 051: An Exact Change**

"Ugh. Those guys are like ants." There was not a spot on the horizon that did not have one or two XYZ-duelists. Their numbers had multiplied since Emily had walked into the infirmary. "I knew their guild had more members than ours. But this is beyond my expectations." Cassius now estimated they had twice the amount, possibly more than all other guilds combined. And these were just the top-class members. Not that it made things any different; the two were definitely too late to warn anyone. "We can't get anywhere." Sneaking out was impossible, the XYZ-guild had taken over the entrance. "We cannot stay here either. Someone is going to check up on Tanvir eventually." They were forced to hide in the same room they were in before. Tanvir was not going to be unconscious forever either. "If it comes to it." Emily had an unpleasant idea. She crouched down and pried Tanvirs dueldisk of his arm. "We have to force our way out, one at a time.." His dueldisk still functioned. Still, it was just one disk against a dozen. This could take forever..

...

Doms LP: 4900 Roma's LP: 3200

"I tell ya, you guilds are always in such a rush. You just want your battles over with in a flash. Nobody wants to sit down for that! Luckily, I can make us both happy." The maker of cards was quite pleased with the card he drew this turn. "It starts with this, Bubble Barrier!" He played this continuous spell, which placed bubble shields around all his performers like Performage Flame Eater (4/1200/1600). "Time to put this cat to rest! I activate XYZ Revenge!" Another spell followed the first act. "Your XYZ-monster has one material left, I will take that thank you very much!" XYZ Revenge revived a dead XYZ-monster if the opponent controlled one as well. The card attached to the opposing monster would be attached to the revived one instead. "I special summon Trapeze Magician!" The masked mage(4/2500/2000) broke out of his tomb, pulling himself up on his trapeze bar. With his other hand he pulled the Red Layer card that hovered around Mech Beast Magnaligner(5/2600/2000). "That takes care of him. Super Quantum Red Layer would have revived one of your other Quants if it was simply sent to the graveyard. We cant have that!"

"That implies that you can destroy my monster, Cardmaker. I would like see how.." XYZ-materials or not, Magnaliger would not lose to Trapeze Magician in a straight up fight. "I knew you'd ask that! That has a fix too!" Dom normal summoned a new Performage, a headless magician(4/600/1400) with a smiling mirror for a body. "The final act begins with Mirror Conductor! He can switch a monsters attack and defense!" The Mirrors glass reflected the Quantal fire Mech. This reflection caused it(2000/2600) to weaken. "Then Mirror Conductor inflicts 500 points of damage. But!" The conductor fired a blast straight towards Dom; a blast that Trapeze Magician kicked away as it swung through the air. "As long as I have Trapeze Magician on my field, I take no effect damage that is less than his attackpoints!" The cardmaker then placed Mirror Conductor on top of Flame Eater. "Speaking of which! Let's make this a double performance!" The Performages were used as XYZ-materials to special summon a second Performage Trapeze Magician(4/2500/2000) from the extra deck.

"Here is the final power of my XYZ-Performer!" The new Trapeze Magician detached one of his overlayed materials and targeted the other Trapeze Magician with its effect. "He gives any other monster a second attack during battles this turn! He can't give that power to himself, but he can give it to his namesakes! The targeted monster is destroyed once the battle phase is over, but Bubble Barrier will sort that out." Now there would be three Trapeze-powered attacks this battle phase. There could have been four even, except that would result in the attached Quantum Red Layer going back to Roma's graveyard. Dom did not want to bring more monsters to his opponents field. "Now even the kids at home, if they could see this, would figure it out. I have enough attackpoints for your lifepoints!" Three attacks were sufficient. With the first, Trapeze Magician Deux destroyed the MagnaLiger Tiger. "Time to exit the stage, Roma!"

Roma's LP: 2700

"I think not." Two direct attacks were coming. Roma needed just his one card to safeguard his lifepoints. "I activate XYZ-Reborn." It was a trap card that special summoned one XYZ-monster from the graveyard and then attached itself to that XYZ-monster as an XYZ-material. "!" Magnaliger(2600/2000) was special summoned back in attack position, with its stats restored to normal. "That you attempted to end our battle on this turn, must mean you realized you could not wait any longer. You finally took me seriously, and now it is too late." Doms attacks had to be called off. The Bubble around the first Performage Magician popped, but it regenerated as soon as Dom ended his turn. Inside those bubbles, his monsters would be safe from battle damage. Not that it mattered. As the creator of the weapons in Roma's hands, Dom knew how his opponent was going to counter-attack.

"I activate the other effect of Magnaliger!" Roma was through being patient. He went straight into his final plan. Step one of that plan was to have his current XYZ-monster absorb a Super Quantum card in his hand and turn that into a second XYZ-material. Step two was activating his field spell's effect. "I can send Magna Carrier to the graveyard, then target 3 Super Quantal Mech Beast-Xyz Monsters with different names, alive or dead." Magnaliger, Aeroblast and Grampulse were all drawn into the Carrier. "These three targets will be the materials for one XYZ-monster; the strongest card in my extra deck!" The three Mech Beasts combined their bodies. Aeroblast formed the wings and arms, Grampulse the legs and Magnaliger the torso. A new humanoid head slid out of the red torso compartment. "Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus!" The new combined Mech King(12/3600/3200) had been born. "Rank 12..." The crowd was floored by this maddening display of XYZ-summoning. The Quantal King was the only rank 12 monster in their existence. "It's over."

"Yes. It is over. You knew this.. didn't you, cardmaker? You failed to win when you needed to. When the Quantum King has four materials it is immune to all card effects." Magnus' powers grew for each pair of unique XYZ-materials that it possessed. There were five, the three XYZ-Quantals, one Super Quantum effect monster and XYZ Reborn itself. "When it has at least two, it can send any single card on the field back into a players deck." The Mech King detached XYZ-Reborn. Bubble Barrier was exiled from the field and its bubble shields along with it. "Well fine. You got me there. But it's not the end of the world." Dom would have to take a hit to his lifepoints and lose his Trapeze Magicians. He could recover from that. Especially since he could just summon more Trick Clowns from his deck afterwards. "Eheh. You are a funny man, cardmaker. You cannot even begin to comprehend how wrong you are." Roma shook his head with disappointment. "It is the end of your world..." He played an equip spell, Stoic Challenge. "Oh. That's flat-out unfantastic."

The attackpoints of King Magnus(6000/3200) shot through the roof, because Stoic Challenge added 600 attackpoints for each XYZ-material that was attached to the equipped monster. Worse still, the equip spell doubled all battle damage King Magnus would inflict when it battled other monsters. "There is no survival for you, you fool of a duelist. You may have helped create the most wonderful weapons known to mankind, but you squandered them.." The Rank 12 machine gathered flames, water and wind inside the Aerobeast mouth on its right arm. "You have wasted everyone's time for the sake of your enjoyment. You will not get another single second! I attack Trapeze Magician!" The revived XYZ-Performage was the target of the Super Quantal. One beam of three colors erased its presence from the stage and ended Doms show permanently. "Whoaa!" The master was blown away by the explosion.

Doms LP: 0

"Sir!" Iria rushed out of the skybox as Dom tumbled off the stage and fell to the floor, though Adamant and several others prevented her from getting too close. "Ohh my globe." The master'd been lucky that the platform only stood three feet above the ground and that he wore a mask. It was cracked now. "I have won, cardmaker. There's nothing more for you to bargain with. Give us what we asked for." By now Doms dizziness had gone away. "Alright. You got me. I know when I'm down. The codes are Zk1r0U22O4, BL50SZ3V and 27mKfmpvw." Dom rattled the letters and numbers off rapidly. "Now you gotta honor your own promise too, sir Roma. You said you would let these people go." Dom cared more for that than anything else right now. "I will, when we confirm that you have given us the right codes." Roma nodded to his follower, he started typing in the codes. "You can at least let the nonduelists go! They just came here to be entertained, not to fight you." Dom pleaded again.

"Roma." Adamant took this time to show back up down below. "You did swear on this. The word of the leader should mean something." There clearly was some disapproval in his tone. "You're teaching me how to take your role, former champion? Hm, I do appreciate it. And I also appreciate seeing the master of dreamworld beg. I am a generous man." He glanced at his follower again. As anticipated, the log-in was going to take some time.. "Very well. Tell the noncombatants that they may leave the theater. But they cannot leave the park. They will understand that we do not want the outside world to know what we did. If they try to, I will not be held responsible for the consequences. If they have to accuse anyone of this extended torment, they can look at the cardmaker." He was technically the one to delay them. "Even if you had done this in a flash, would it have been worth it? Once you leave this stage, all of you will be pursued by the law. Do your followers know that?" Iria asked with scorn. "Once we have the cards we want; the law wont even dare touch us." Roma chuckled.

"Ugh. This sucks.." Eric cursed once dozens of people had been led away by the XYZ-guild. "We can't just let them do this!" He worried constantly, about Emily, Alice and Uno. Being out there was not much better than being in here. "We do not need to do anything, Stonewell." Dame Phoebe counteracted him by being the perfect example of calmness. "Huh? Why're you saying.. Wait.." Eric was seeing what she had seen; a commotion down below, Roma was yelling at his subordinates. "Check again!" He ordered to no avail. The duelist could find nothing on the server. It was empty. "You.. you did this!" Roma turned on Dom, grabbing him by the collar. "What? I gave you what you asked for! I can't help it if some dashing rogue took everything." The master laughed. "You deleted everything! How? You had no way to reach... You did this beforehand? You knew someone would come after it?" The pieces were falling together. "Did I? Guess I'm smarter than I thought!"

"You've got backups somewhere. You would not destroy everything you worked for! Tell me where it is!" Roma shook him and threw him to the floor. "Or do I need to remind you what we do to deceivers?" His Quantal Mech fired a blast right next to the master, leaving a deep hole in the wall. The shockwaves cracked his mask further. "Easy there, pal! Of course I kept the information somewhere." Dom put his hand up, then he placed it on his dome. "It's all in here, I memorized everything important. So you need _me_." There it was, one last bargaining chip. "I need your head, cardmaker? Then we do not need the rest." Roma was beyond livid. If he was going to have to put up with this, he would do it his way. "I will take everything you value.. starting with that inane mask of yours!" Roma slammed the top of the dome with the blade of his dueldisk and smashed it wide open. "Let's see what he looks like!" Every fragment peeled away...

"What!?" To reveal a second second slightly smaller bowl-shaped mask. "Surprised?!" Dom got back up. "I always keep a spare mask just in case I trip over something. You don't get good peripheral vision in this thing."

"Sir!" An XYZ-duelist let out a panicked cry at this point, as did some others. "What now?" Roma looked behind him and his expression twisted grimly. "No.." He heard the familiar humming of active dueldisks. Each disk in the ring had been switched back on. "Sir. They're connecting!" The shutdown would have lasted until the guild removed it. They had not counted on this. "How? Did you do this too?" Roma could only accuse one man. "I'll take credit for this yeah, me and my Disciples. Nothing is useless, Roma. Letting my dueldisk inside the network was your mistake, but that is all I will say. A magician never reveals his secrets." Roma had been right, winning the duel was never Doms main concern. He just needed to buy time for his other disciple. Zach had gotten into their network while Dom got the innocent out of the line of fire. That was the real act one. To get to the second act, he would need the stage.

Dom pulled a microphone out of his sleeve. Standard equipment like this could also connect easily. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Fusion, Synchro and Independent guilds! Normally I wouldn't go for unprepared or serious speeches, but you have all seen what the XYZ-guild thinks of dueling and what they want from it! If they acquire that power, no force on this planet can stop them. But here and now, they are limited by my design! My duel with Roma was just a demonstration. Sure it didn't exactly go as planned, and I would rather have ended this the easy way. But here we are! Here you are! You can challenge them like I did. You are not alone or weakened; everything is available digitally so build the best deck you can think of! If you work together, you outnumber them! The future of dueling is at stake! So I, Dom, the maker of cards, implore you all to stand up and fight! Let every last card be put to good use!"

It did not take much time for the duelists to give Dom their answer. "Back in business." Jet, Akai and Gareth led the men and women of the Synchro guild in a full frontal charge on the XYZ-guild. "See. We didn't have to do anything.. until now. Herewego!" Phoebe and the Fusion Guild spread out to their prey within the XYZ-guild. "I do not know what the hell is going on, but I know a bastard when I see one!" Even the small independent guilds were incensed and outraged. They picked a fight with whatever duelist they could find. "...Looks like the war has begun here." Adamant declared solemnly. Yet there was a weak smile on his face.

...

The words of Dom had been broadcast around the amusement park, alerting any duelist and nonduelist to the chaos inside the theater. "You heard the man, every able duelist should be out there fighting!" Uno would not wait any longer. "Well these are newer orders. And if the boss is in danger.." The guards were considering it. "But what can you do? You don't even have a dueldisk." One guard reminded Uno of the fact that all his equipment had been confiscated. "But he does." Alice walked over to the table and took her dueldisk. "He could use mine.. or I could help him.. But I don't want to leave mom either. Uno..what should we do?" Alice was torn. One one hand she wanted to to give him the disk and let him deal with it. On the other hand, she would feel terrible if Uno went out their alone. It was not a good idea for nonduelists like her mother to go out there either. "What is going to happen out there? Is Emily in danger?" Heather was not going anywhere until she knew where she could find her daughter. Emily could not be reached on her phone. "It's going to get crazy before it gets calm. That is for sure.. I will go out there to find her. I have to do this for you, for them!" He asked the guards a second time. There would not be a third request.

"Hold.." There did not need to be one either. "It's a message.." One of the guards received a text sent by Zach Creffield. "Okay. You may go." He finally stepped aside. "Sir Creffield has asked for your assistance in this matter. We were instructed to let you go free. Zach has asked to meet you at the west entrance of the amphitheater. There he will give you your physical cards. In the mean time, you can use the digital program that Dom has sent to every other duelist if you wish to duel. It should be in the girl's disk as well." Uno was sorta familiar with that conceptl Digital decks were a new practise for those who could not afford actual cards or wanted to duel over a long distance. In events like these, people could hardly argue for quality. "So Dreamworld needs me? I guess they have a bigger problem to worry about.."

Blasts and explosions began to echo, the duels seemed to be escalating quickly. "You shouldn't stay here either. It's too close by the theater. You guys, can you take the ladies somewhere safe, right?" He glared at the security officers. "We could. The safest place should be the security center. It wouldn't be a threat to them after the blackout. They might have left it alone." They weren't duelists, but they could still put up a fight if they had to. "Right. Alice, Mrs. Brandt.. I will try to bring Emily to you. I think you will be okay, they wont come after you if you're not a duelist." He assumed the guilds could tell from a glance that Heather was no danger to them. "If they only go after duelists.. Then you really should take this, Uno. I won't take no for an answer, okay?" Alice pushed her dueldisk into his arms. "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. Alice, thank you." He pet her on the shoulder and strapped her dueldisk to his arm. A quick check verified that even his Performapals and Pendulum cards were part of the digital selection. "I'm ready. Are you?" Alice and her mother nodded. "Good. We'll see each other again, that is a promise." He headed out the door, and took the left path. "Good luck, mister Uno!" Heather shouted after him. They were both gonna need that.

(To be Continued in Annex 052: Or You're Against Us)

 **New Cards used by Dom  
** Performage Mirror Coordinator

-  
XYZ Revenge

 **New Cards used by Roma  
** Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus

-  
Stoic Challenge

-  
XYZ Reborn


	52. Or You're Against Us

**Annex 052: Or You're Against us**

The scene at the theater was one of chaos. Each XYZ-duelist fought against one not from their guild. Some were fighting in teams, or doublingup on one enemy. Battle Royal Mode had been activated in each dueldisk, there were no rules about who could defeat who. The one who started it all stood at the center of it all. "Admiring your work, cardmaker?" The only ones not engaged in a duel were Roma and his closest followers. Nobody had been able to break through to them yet. But one was close. "Unhand him!" Iria Silver stared her offense with an army of Qliphorts at her side. "That's the spirit, Silver!" Dom cheered her on before Roma grabbed him by the collar. "Silence him!" Roma tossed him to his subordinates. "How, sir?" Ichirou could not exactly cover his mouth. "Forget it! Just take some men and bring him to a secure location for interrogation!" Ichirou nodded and began dragging the Master off. "Adamant, you are with me." The former leader and current leader would face anyone bold enough to get near them.

"Wait!" Iria was already slowed down by several class1 XYZ-duelists. "Damn it!" Before she started the duel she used her disk to send a message to the other Disciple."Creffield, they have taken the Master! I cannot get to him. It all falls on you to save him! Please, we cannot fail him."

...

Uno ran through the park, avoiding detection by sneaking through the bushes around the statue park. It brought him near the theater. That was where his luck ran out. "Ah!" He was spotted by a female XYZ Class 2 duelist. "Oh no you don't!" The woman tried to raise her dueldisk, but Uno beat her to the punch. "Damn, you're first." She cursed. "Is that how that goes now? Either way, I'm kinda in a hurry here." Uno never thought the day would come that he'd try to get out of a duel. Not that he could. "Tough. I have my orders to stop any duelist." Her dueldisk did not disengage. "And you just follow those? Tch, fine then" It was better to deal with her, then wait for reinforcements to show up. Fortunately Uno could play faster than usual, now that he did not have physical cards to place, just buttons to push.

Uno's LP: 8000 XYZ-duelists LP: 8000

"Here, Performapal Drummerilla." Without fanfare, he normal summoned a pendulum monster gorilla(6/1600/900) with drums on its chest. Drummerilla could be normal summoned without tributes if there were no other monsters on the field. However his(4/1600/900) level would drop by two stars. "And Odd-Eyes." Uno placed Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in his left pendulum zone and a trap card in the spell/trap zone. Then he ended his turn and sacrificed Odd-Eyes to add a Pendulum monster with less than 1500 attackpoints, Timegazer Magician, to his hand. "Oh. It's _you_ , the Performapal guy. What happened to your real cards? Eh, not important. You're just another enemy." The woman, who apparently did not even feel the need to introduce himself to Uno, drew her next card. She placed a trap card down and activated a spell. "Nobleman of Extermination. I banish my face-down trap card." The Nobleman spell could banish any set spells or traps, his as well. "Yours?" So why did she not remove his trap?

"XYZ Dimension Splash." The answer was that her trap activated when it was banished. "I special summon two level 8 water monsters from my deck." Two seaserpents flew in on the dimensional tide; Spiral Serpent(8/2900/2900) and Kaiser Sea Snake(8/2500/1000). These monsters could not attack, use effects or be tributed. However they could be overlayed. "I XYZ-summon Aegaion the Sea Castrum." So she used them to XYZ-summon a mechanical sea fortress(8/0/3000) that was as large as a castle. "Aegaion will banish a monster from your extra deck, and copy that monsters attackpoints!" The Sea Castrum absorbed a card that surprisingly still was in Uno's deck; Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Uno had been surprised Dom created digital copies of those cards at all. "Wish I hadn't included them." Now Rune-Eyes gave 3000 attackpoints to the XYZ-machine(3000/3000). "Destroy that card!" Then Aegaion aimed all its cannons at Performapal Drummerilla. "Oh hold on! When an attack is declared, Drummerilla can add 600 attackpoints to one of my monsters!" The gorilla beat its own chest to pump himself(4/2200/900) up. When the cannonfire came and the Performapal died, the damage was minimized somewhat. "Huh. Take what you can get." She ended her turn.

Uno's LP: 7200

 _"Can't slow down.."_ Uno drew his next card. "I set the scales, Timegazer and Wisdom-Eye Magician!" He placed his scale 8 dark magician on the right and a scale 5 magician on the left. "I can tribute Wisdom-Eye to set another Pendulum Magician from my deck!" Uno swapped out the flail-carrying mage for his trusty Stargazer Magician. Now that he had a scale 1 monster, he could bring back the pendulum monsters that died and went to the extra deck. "Pendulum Summon!" Uno summoned Performapal Drummerilla(6/1600/900), Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000), Wisdom-Eye Magician(5/1500/1500). "Odd-Eyes! attacks with the help of Drummerilla's power!" The odd-eyed dragon(3100/2000) gained a powerboost as the gorilla played his drumbeat once more. The dragons blast destroyed the giant castle in the sea, and the damage from that blow was doubled. "I also attack with my other monsters!" The Gorilla and Wisdom mage charged Uno's opponent and knocked her to the ground.

XYZ-duelists LP: 4700

"Rgh. you're playing rough aren't you?" The girl got back on her feet. The pain only livened her spirits. "You know, I thought you were going to fusion summon there for a second." She had seen Uno's duel with Neter, and she knew he had the perfect setup to fusion summon a Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "I may be in a hurry, but I am not going to trip over an obvious boobytrap." Uno also knew a few things, like how the Sea Castrum could destroy the same kind of extra deck cards on the field that it had banished before. It was a perfect weapon against other guilds who always specialized in one type. "I will now though." Uno had feeling he was going to need to. He just hoped these digital copies weren't gonna mess with his head. "Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" He sacrificed the beast Drummerilla and the dragon Odd-Eyes to fuse them into the skeletal beast dragon(8/3000/2000). "I set another card in the spell/trap zone and end my turn!"

"Ah. That's the part I remember. There is something else I remember too." The woman special summoned a monster from her hand. "When my opponent has a monster, and I don't, I can summon Kaiser Sea Snake from my hand." It was another imperial seaserpent(4/0/0). If it was summoned through its own effect its defense would be reduced to zero. Also any special summoned Kaiser Sea Snake had its original level of 8 cut down by half and its attackpower nullified. "When I summon a Kaiser Sea Snake like this, it will summon another level 8 Seaserpent fom my graveyard." The second Seasnake revived the first that had been attached to Sea Castrum before. It(4/0/1000) too had its level reduced and its attackpoints taken away. "I XYZ-summon, Castel the Skyblaster!" And so she overlayed both Kaiser snakes to create the winged musketeer(4/2000/1500). "Stans card.." One of the easiest rank 4 monsters to summon. Uno would not soon forget it.

"The first shot is for, Beast-Eyes." The woman used up both of Castels XYZ-materials to activate its field bounce effect. The fused dragon beast was pushed back into the extra deck by the muskets blasts. "The second is for that magician on your field!" Castel reloaded his gun and used them for an attack. It came in close and blasted Wisdom-Eye Magician through the head. "Ack." The bullet narrowly grazed Uno's hair. "You... could kill someone like that." What would have happened if it actually hit him? "No I couldn't. We are not here to kill anyone. We just get what we need and let nobody stop us; not Synchros, not Fusions and certainly not your Pendulums." Finally, before she ended her turn, she activated a Twin Twisters spell card by discarding another card from her hand. "I better make sure you do not bring any back. Twin Twisters can destroy two spell or trap cards at once." She directed her twisters at both Time and Stargazer Magician.

Uno's LP: 6700

"No." Uno did not even let the suspense play out. "Not these two." He activated his quickplay spell card, Pendulum Impenetrable. "Aw damnit." The twisters subsided; any effect that targeted a pendulum card would be negated this turn. "You know, I always though these guilds were a wild idea, but I could see why people would start them and join them. But now everyone is acting like this. Why? What is worth all this?!" He shouted. Nothing made sense anymore, this was not why people were supposed to duel. "All I know is that we needed something Dom was not sharing. You sound just like him by the way. But even if I had the full details, I wouldn't tell an outside. The higher-ups say that the less you know, the better." The duelist placed a trap card down and ended her turn. "What could your guild know that the rest of the world doesn't?" Uno asked. "I already said I didn't know. I just do as I am told." The woman shrugged. "Blast it.." Uno had to remind himself he did not have the time to play riddle games. "Pendulum summon!" He special summoned Odd-Eyes, Performapal Drummerilla and Wisdom-Eye Magician. "Odd-Eyes will attack!" While the performapal gorilla played its drums, the dragon(3100/2000) charged his flames.

And Uno's opponent flipped her trap card. "Not this time!" It was Fiendish Chain. "We know your weaknesses, Uno! That is why the XYZ-guild.." Chains bound Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon down, preventing its attack. Just like during Stans duel. "Cosmic Typhoon!" So Uno countered with his second quickplay spell card, one that banished one spell or trap card at the cost of 1000 lifepoints. "Ha? You added.." The woman had no recollection of ever seeing this card in Uno's duels. "The same trick will never work on me twice, miss." Odd-Eyes broke free as the Cyclone eroded the fiendish chains. The fire escaped its jaws and immolated the Skyblaster Musketeer. The doubled battle damage was a little more impactful now. "And I guess I don't have to hear your guilds story anyway. Because it could never justify this madness." Just like last turn, Wisdom-Eye Magician and Drummerilla attacked directly. Uno did not mind if he was repeating himself, not on an evening like this. "Gyugh!" The hits from the two monsters pushed the woman against the walls of the theater. "That hurt more..than I thought it would.. " she was fading fast. She had only enough energy for one last provocation.

Uno's LP: 5700

"You lose anyway.. There's hundreds like me. Our guild.." She did not finish it. The woman slid down to the ground. Uno never got her name.

XYZ-duelists LP: 0

"I wish she hadn't timed her sentences like that. She might have given us something valuable." Someone with a rather refined tone of voice had a few words to say about the womans defeat. "!?" Though the sound was familiar, Uno instinctively reached for his dueldisk to prepare himself for a challenge. "Whoa there. It's just me, Uno." The other disciple stood behind him, Zach Creffield. "Zach?" This was not the place where he had asked Uno to meet him. "Please keep it down, I managed to not attract any attention so far. Also, my apologies, I saw someone using performapals on the network, so I assumed you had been caught. I came as soon as I could, but you did not need my assistance." Zach had his dueldisk primed as well, to be prepared for anything or anyone. "No. You need mine." Uno pointed out bluntly. "Yes. Straight to the point, Dom has been taken by the XYZ-guild. He anticipated that and instructed us to recruit your aid, should me and Silver ever face too big an opposition. I think we can agree that this occasion qualifies."

"But why me? Just a day ago I couldn't even control myself and tried to wreck the place. Why not ask the other guilds for help?" Uno started to wonder if he got this digital deck simply because Dom wanted to prevent further anger outbursts. "We can't trust the other guilds. We do not know what the guilds need Doms data for, but Dame Phoebe probably wanted the same thing, seeing as how she tried to rush towards the finals. Dom has more faith in you than in them. You and me, _we_ have to save him."

...

Alice and the others could see the security center in the distance, they had made it that far. "It seems clear. Come on!" The last stretch unfortunately was a wide open field. The guards did't like the look of this; it seemed too easy. And it was. "Look out!" Heather screamed. A pair of gigantic axes, swords and spears rained down from above. They crashed into the pavement and into the guards, knocking the wind out of them. "Oh no!"

"Oh yes." The responsible XYZ-duelist revealed himself. He had them surrounded with his solidified blade monsters . "I was looking for stragglers, I did not expect to find such a big one like you.." His eyes were set on one person. "Me?" It was Alice, much to her surprise. "Yes, you. You were the one who defeated our champion and ruined our chances of a true victory." The nameless duelist shouted. "Uh. I am sorry?" An apology was all she could come up with for an answer. "Don't be. I don't care that deeply. I am not here to avenge him or anything. I just thought.. how good it would look on my record if I defeat the champion slayer. I'll definitely make it to class 1 then." He activated his dueldisk. "You want to duel my daughter? Now? She doesn't even have a dueldisk!" Her mother protested. "As if that is going to stop me. Use this." He placed another disk on the floor and kicked it over to Alice. "I took this from some random independent that I stomped down on my way here. You can use that."

"But..but I don't want to fight you.." Alice refused to pick it up. "If you want to be the champion slayer..slayer.. can't you just pretend you beat me and let us go? You don't have to hurt anyone.. you didn't." It was too late for the guards. Hopefully they were not too injured. "The guild would know. This can only be done the right way. I am not letting you or your dear mother go until you fight me! And do not try my patience. If you wait, more like me will come. Neither of us has time for that." With or without her, he was starting this duel. He placed three cards down in his spell/trap zone and ended his turn.

Alice's LP: 8000 XYZ-duelists LP: 8000

"Honey. You don't.." Brandt saw her daughter pick up the dueldisk. "I do." She turned it on and placed her cards in it. "Otherwise, he wont leave anyone alone." She took a deep breath and started drawing her cards. "My turn.." She placed a trap card down first. Then she normal summoned Mermail Abysspike(4/1600/800). "Mermails? That was not what you used against Adamant!" The opponent complained. However he then saw her use Mermail Abysspike's effect to discard a water monster, Nekroz of Decisive Arms, from her hand and add a level 3 water monster, Nekroz Strategist Shurit, to her hand. "You combined them? Well, I don't care how I win. Just that I win!" He laughed. "...". Alice wordlessly declared a direct attack with Mermail Abysspike. "Not even a little afraid of my face-down cards? Good for you. The trap was not down there anyway!" He special summoned a monster from his hand during the attack, a Vajra weapon wielded by a featureless blue warrior(5/1800/1900). "It was up here! When your monster makes a direct attack: I can summon Artifact Vajra from my hand!"

"If Artifact Vajra is special summoned during your turn, it destroy all my spell and trap cards!" His three cards were wiped out. However, they were not spells or traps. "Artifact Aegis, Artifact Achillesshield and Artifact Failnaught, I summon them in defense position!" They were monsters, set as spells and resummoned as monsters; A Shield held by a golden spirit(5/1200/2500) a Shield held by a purple warrior(5/1500/2200) and a Bow held by a green archer(5/2000/1600). "They're the same as those weapons from before?" Thus the nature of his deck was revealed; he wielded the Artifacts. "Artifacts are monsters that can be set down in the spell/trap zone. And if they are destroyed while in such a state, they will come back to the field as monsters!" They had an effect each; Achillesshield prevented attacks and Aegis prevented effect destructions. Mermail Abysspike could not fight them to begin with. "Alice. What are you going to do now?" Her mother thought there had to be a way out of this. "..I have to.. end my turn." Her daughter did not. She allowed the nameless duelist to continue. "Sweetie?"

"Giving up? Good enough.." The opponent cracked his neck. "Let me show you the best weapon in our extra deck before you do though." The duelist took Aegis and overlayed it with Achillesshield. "I summon Cyber Dragon Nova." They became a far different monster, a metallic dragon(5/2100/1600) with no limb or arms. It was intimidating. It was not his final goal. "Once per turn, I can use Cyber Dragon Nova and all of its attached cards, as the materials for Cyber Dragon Infinity's XYZ-summon!" The duelist took another black card from his extra deck and stacked it on top of his initial XYZ-monster. "Ah.." Cyber Dragon Nova evolved before Alice's eyes. It did not change greatly in shape, but it(6/2700/1600) grew in rank and in power. "Cyber Dragon Infinity gains 200 attackpoints for each card that is attached to him! And during each of my turns, he can take one monster in attack position away! That monster will turn into another XYZ-material!" The infinite dragon fired a tractor beam that dragged Mermail Abysspike away. Its body was destroyed and its energy absorbed by Infinity(2900/1600). " _Here_ is how you do a direct attack!" Now he was free to unleashed the offensive power of his three monsters.

"Uh, I activate.. " Alice wanted to block the attacks with her trap card, Rippling Mirror Force. "Denied!" Alas, Cyber Dragon Infinity could negate any effect once a turn by detaching a material. "Aaah!" The XYZ-monster(2700/1600) broke the Mirror barrier and its energy blast continued unimpeded. "No, don't!" Mrs Brandt cried out as the explosion filled the square with smoke. "Alice!"

Alice's LP: 5100

(To be Continued in Annex 053: While it Lasted)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Drumerilla  
Wisdom-Eye Magician

-  
Cosmic Cyclone

 **Cards used by XYZ-duelist 1  
** Spiral Serpent  
Kaiser Seasnake

-  
Aegaion the Sea Castrum  
Castel the Skyblaster Musketeer

-  
Nobleman of Extermination  
Twin Twisters

-  
XYZ Dimension Splash  
Fiendish Chain

 **Cards used by XYZ-duelist 2  
** Artifact Vajra  
Artifact Aegis  
Artifact Achillesshield  
Artifact Failnaught

-  
Cyber Dragon Nova  
Cyber Dragon Infinity


	53. While it Lasted

**Annex 053: While it Lasted**

"Don't interfere, ma'am. This does not involve you." The XYZ-duelist stated to the bystander as his Artifacts Failnaught(5/2000/1600) and Vajra(5/1800/1900) slashed through the smog that his first attack had created. "Not involved? She is my daughter! What did you do to her!?" Heather could not see Alice through the smoke and fire. "Nothing worth screaming about, she still has some lifepoints left. It's all energy and forcefields." It was only the last blow which had the highest impact settings; another constraint forced upon every dueldisk.

Alice's LP: 1300 XYZ-duelists LP: 8000

"Why.. would you want..this?" The smoke and noise began to clear. "Alice?" Her mother could hear and see her again. "Why would you hurt people with cards?" Alice emerged relatively unscathed, aside from scratches on her clothes and dust in her throat. "You're standing? I guess you're made of stronger stuff than I thought." The opponent sneered. "This is how dueling was always supposed to be. It's not just a game of skills but a test of endurance! And we're the only guild that honors that." He moved to the second main phase and placed another card in the spell/trap zone. "I XYZ-summon Artifact Durendal!" Artifacts Failnaught and Vajra were placed on top of each other; the spear and clubweapons transformed into a large red spirited sword(5/2400/2100). "I will activate one of its two powers!" One material was detached from the XYZ-sword. "Each player with a hand shuffles their entire hand into the deck, then draws the same number of cards they shuffled into the deck!" The XYZ-duelist exchanged one card while Alice had to shuffle four cards into her deck. One of them was the reason he activated this power in the first place, she had to let Shurit the Nekroz Strategist go now. "Your turn, champion slayer Alice."

"Alice... You do not have to do this.." Heather could not bear to watch this, she wanted the duel to end. "I..." But it wouldn't, this guy would not accept an obvious surrender. He wanted the duel to look clean. "It won't stop. Why..won't it.." She did not have any desire to counterattack either. It would hurt him too. "Why can't you just stay away!?" Visibly rattled, Alice drew her card. She normal summoned Dance Princess of the Nekroz(4/1600/800). "Nekroz Cycle!" After that a ritual spell was played, to revive a Nekroz ritual monster from the graveyard.

"You're not going anywhere! I.." Normally, the opponent would have simply stopped that spell with either of his XYZ-monsters. Durendals second power rewrote effects as they were activated ad Cyber Dragon Infinity(6/2700/1600) could negate effects altogether. "Crap. The Dance Princess!" However he had overlooked the Princess of the Nekroz. Her effect prevented anyone response to the activation of a Nekroz ritual spell. "Nekroz of Decisive Arms!" The Nekroz Mirror sacrificed a level 7 Mermail Abyssmegalo and a level 3 Djinn Releaser of Rituals from her hand. Life was given to the armored seadragon(10/3300/2300) with great golden cannons on its back. "I do not want to duel like this, I never wanted any of it!" Decisive Arms activated its effect to banish one face-down trap or spell each turn and banished the face-down Artifact monster that the opponent had set. "So just stop!" Then she Nekroz of Decisive Arms attack; it blasted Cyber Dragon Infinity to pieces.

XYZ-duelists LP: 7400

"Bah! You think you can keep us in a stalemate?" Alice had done more than defeat his strongest XYZ-monster, she was also blocking the arrival of new ones. When someone tributed the Djinn Releaser of Rituals for a ritual summon, the Djins sealing effect would come into play. He could not special summon while the monster that Djinn was sacrificed for stayed alive. He couldn't exactly sit on his traps either. "You don't have a lot of time either. So if you don't mind.. I am going to get what I want, while I can!" He took his turn. In his draw phase he got a spell that would come in handy. It was Parallel Twister, a card that destroyed one of his spell/traps and then one of her monsters. "Heh." First he would need to remove the Dance Princess of the Nekroz. That card denied him the chance to target ritual Nekroz monsters with his effect. "Attack, Artifact Durendal!" The red sword spirit could do that easily. With one swing from the blade the Princess was cut down at waist-level. "Now!" When the main phase came again, so did his combo. He placed one card face-down in the spell/trap zone.

Alice's LP: 500

"I don't think.. that is gonna happen." Before any twisters could arise, a storm of a different type arose. "You what?" The duelist gasped. Alice had activated Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy his set card before he could. "Ugh. This isn't over." He kept Parallel Twister to himself for now and passed the turn to her. "Why isn't it? Arent you winning, Alice?" Heather did not understand why this man was not giving up yet. "I should be.." Alice hesitated to keep attacking. "You're running out of cards.." But she had to. She discarded Catastor from her hand to special summon the Dance Princess from the graveyard. "You can't keep this up." Decisive Arms fired another cannon shot to reduce Artifact Durendal to a burning slag-pile. The Princess in turn fired a blast of water to strike the enemy in the chest. "Oof!" He winced again as he felt the blow to his lifepoints. "Heh.. Maybe. Maybe not. But this wont stop until one of us falls. That's the way to duel and it will never change! If you can't handle that, then you shouldn't be the champion slayer anyway!"

XYZ-duelists LP: 4900

"And besides. You're too late either way." He looked behind him. "Oh." Heather flinched. There was someone else coming, and she was wearing the same kind of uniform as this guy. "Heh. I don't know you are, but you're just in time. I softened up this girl. Come help me take her down and I will split the reward with you." The nameless duelist was eager to let this newcomer assist him. Via the rules of the battle royal system that was allowed. "Hey..." However this blonde duelist did not pair up with him, or Alice. She took her own slot and had her own monsters all prepared. "What are you..doing?" Madolche Puddingcess Chocolat-a-la-Mode(5/3000/2700) and Madolche Chouxvalier(4/2200/1800), powered up by the Madolche Chateau fieldspell, attacked the wide-open XYZ duelist directly. "Kgah!" The sudden damage shocked him into unconsciousness. "Yeah, no." The woman spat.

Liza's LP: 8000 XYZ-duelist's LP: 0

"Liza!" It was her, the woman from the golfcourse. "You know her?" Heather was even more confused, this woman looked like she belonged to the same guild as the other guy. "She does.. she beat me a few weeks ago. That set me back, and I thought joining this new plan of Roma would get me back at the top. But.." Liza stared at Alice. "I didn;t sign up for this madness." She shook her head and turned of her dueldisk. "Liza.. You did this for us?" Alice felt guilty that she had almost believed it; that Liza was just here to steal the credit. "I told you, you're too sweet. You're gonna get swallowed alive here. So wake up those two slackers and take them to that safe place, you aint got much time before someone else shows up. I'll pretend I didn't see you." She turned around and walked away. "Oh.. Thank you Liza!" Alice shouted at her anyway. "Yeah yeah yeah." She waved once. Then she was gone from sight. "... Was she a friend?" Mrs. Brandt asked. "I'd like that." Alice sighed. At the very least not everyone in that guild was an enemy.

...

"So where is Dom?" On the inside of the theater it was pandemonium, Uno expected to be ambushed at any second. He followed Zach even though he could not tell where the disciple got his directions from. "His dueldisk.. pardon, your dueldisk.. was last seen on the re-established network inside his own office. We can track every active dueldisk. That's how I managed to chart a smooth path." The guilds could not be everywhere, Zach simply slipped through the cracks. "If you can detect every disk, what about Emily? Do you know where she is?" Uno had promised to find her too. He was not even sure if he had to make Dom a priority. "I do, and she is in a safe location. You can see for yourself if you don't believe me." Zach's disk showed a holohraphic grid. Her dueldisk appeared on the far north sector. As long as a dueldisk had a spot on the radar, their duelist still had lifepoints. "I know what you're thinking, but we have got to be practical. She is too far away for us to be any help, we can do good here."

"And here is any better?" Uno observed the great hall. There were monsters upon monsters in every row. Duelists were tagteaming duelists, doubling up on others or sniping them down while they had their backs turned to them. It was like a tournament where rules did not apply; half conscious duelists and broken dueldisks littered the floors. "It's even worse than I thought.. But we can't afford to throw ourselves in there." Zach moved to the end of the hallway and pushed a button on his dueldisk. "We are taking our own road." A section of the floor slid to the side, revealing a stairwell down into the darkness. "A secret tunnel?" Uno was not all that shocked. "Doms idea.. You probably gathered that on your own. The people who built it called him an extravagant fool. But the master knows more than they'd think. He also created that digital card program that allowed us to fight back in the first place. While he dueled Roma, I used the connection to upload it to one of his followers disks. It wont take long before they find out which disk that is, so we have to hurry."

"Hey, who are you?" They heard a random XYZ-duelist shout. "Oh no." Zach had dropped his guard, now they were cornered. "Hey, hey! We weren't done yet!" Fortunately, or unfortunately, it turned out their witness was already engaged with another opponent. Said opponent performed a summon that would put an end to their fight. "You can't hide from Infernoid Onuncu!" Hells destructive dragon fired a blast that wiped out the XYZ-duelists monsters and followed it up with a direct attack that took down the duelist. "Urghrgh, blast it." He did not stay conscious, just like the last one. The heat of the blast was too much. "Wait a second, Eric?" Nobody else he knew used Infernoids. Nobody else had Infernoids. "Uno!? When did you get back?" Indeed it was Eric Stonewell who had saved them. "Creffield? You're both here? Oh man, talk about luck!"

"Eric. How is it going out there?" Zach inquired. "Oh you know, messily. I think my guild is holding on, but it's..brutal. You can't keep track of anyone. Especially those guys at the stage. I wanted to help Iria, but nobody can get near them.." Eric seemed to be fueled by adrenaline and terror at the same time. Seeing Uno again was like the first bit of good news all day. "But why are you.. better question, how are you here? Did you use that trapdoor?" He had so many questions and so little time. "Not yet. That is where we need to go. We are going to rescue Dom." Uno told him. "We are? I wanna help!" He claimed, smashing his hands together. "You do? Wont the guild notice your absence?" Zach fretted. "They probably wouldn't even notice if the sun exploded with how busy they are." Phoebe was not watching over his shoulder for once, so this was the perfect moment to break free. "Zach, weren't we in a hurry?" Uno reminded the disciple. "Right you are. Very well, Eric. You can come with us. This way!" He went down the stairs into the tunnels.

The office was a few minutes away. "So where did you go? What did that Neter kid do?" Eric succeeded in whittling down his question-list to two topics as they traversed the underground pathways. "I am actually curious about that myself." Zach said. They had not gotten around to getting answers the last time they saw each other. "I am saving that story for later, when I am ready to believe it myself. Neter is not the problem right now." Uno did not think this was a good moment for that whole story. They soon reached the end of the tunnels anyway. Zach slowly lifted the floor tile above them and looked around. He held up four fingers. "Huh, four what?" Eric asked softly. "Four adversaries..possibly more." Zach whispered back, annoyed. "Need a distraction?" They would be outnumbered in a head-on confrontation. "Yes.. There is a second exit a bit further back, go there and make some noise, then come back down here and I will lock them out. They wont be able to follow us through the tunnels once I seal the doors."

Dom was on the other end of the room, strapped to a chair, being questioned by Ichirou. He had not gotten far. Mostly because he could not get that damn mask of his to come off. "I don't believe you cardmaker. You couldn't have deleted everything, it is far more likely that you hid the data through some from of encryption. I do not want to be rough, but if you do not start giving answers.." It was when he was about to go into extreme methods that the the distraction took place. A loud blast came from the waiting room. "That wasn't one of us." Ichirou looked at the other XYZ-duelists. "Go check it out." The four of them marched out of the office. A little while after the last one had gone through the door, Zach popped up from the floor. "What?" Ichirou gasped. Before anyone had an idea of what was going on, he closed the doors and locked them down. "Creffield my boy! Stupendous work!" Dom congratulated him. "The other disciple? I was wondering where you were. Did you come here alone?" Ichirou hovered his hand above his deck of cards. "Sorry to disappoint you!" Uno and Eric emerged from the trapdoor. Zach sealed it off with the push of a button. "Uno?! Ha, I knew you had that heroic spark!"

"Please do be quiet, cardmaker." The second-in-command put up his dueldisk. "Heh. You want to take on all three of us?" Eric would love to see that. "You could try." Ichirou activated a function of his device, one that had a very familiar sound to the Disciple. "A forcefield!" Only Zach was close enough to react and rolled forward as a barrier came down. "Ah you bastard!" Eric and Uno were trapped on the other side. "Two out of three; how inconvenient." The XYZ-duelists plan would have involved capturing them in a barrier and wait for the guards to break the lock on the door. "I challenge you, Ichirou!" Now Zach was in his way. Ichirou could not talk his way out of this duel. "So it is going down like this." There was an upside though. They could not take Dom away while he was around. "Very well, Disciple."

Ichirou's LP: 8000 Zachs LP: 8000

"Uno, Eric! Make sure the door stays locked. I wager those people are calling backup as we speak." Zach said as he drew his cards. The first turn was his. "I hope your locks and doors are very strong then." Uno heard the banging on the other side. "They're so and so." Dom admitted. He could not estimate how long it would take for anyone to break through. "Right.." So Zach moved as swiftly as he could. He placed one monster and one trap card face-down. "No chatter? You are usually talk without end, you and your master." Ichirou started his turn and he drew at a leisurely pace. "Hmm. I summon Kuribandit." His first monster was the eyepatch-wearing pirate Kuriboh(3/1000/700). "Then I will set these four cards and end my turn." Four traps filled his backrow. "That's a lot." Uno flashed back to his duel with Akai. Was Ichirou using a trap monster deck as well? He hadn't really watched his duels in the tournament. "Now during my endphase, I can sacrifice a normal summoned Kuribandit to excvate the top 5 cards from my deck. One of them I can keep." The Kuriboh bandit burst into pieces, pulling five cards from the deck as it died. All of them were trap cards. "What should I keep?"

"I know how Kuribandit works, Ichirou. You do not need to explain it to me. You do not need to stall either." Creffield spoke with polite impatience. "Am I that obvious? Aha-ha, what a shame." Ichirou kept a Discovering Destiny trap card and sent the rest to his graveyard. "However, I am not the only one who is being obvious. I read your file, and I know everything about you. You seem captivated by that card you just drew. Polymerization, right?" He made a guess. Zach gasped, which practically gave him away. "Hm-hmm." So the second in command activated a continuous trap; Anti-Spell Fragrance. "Eesh!" This trap, while it was active, delayed the spells of both duelists. They could not be activated from the hand or during the turn they were set. Zach could not fuse his Melodious monsters this turn, not with a spell card. "Then I will attempt a different approach! I tribute Serenade the Melodious Diva! She counts as two tributes for a Melodious monster!" Zach's facedown pink-toned angel(4/400/1900) in a golden dress was tributed for Zach's strongest card, Mozarta the Melodious Maestra(8/2600/2000)

"Of course you are quite capable without fusion. So allow me to prepare myself." Ichirou activated another trap card, Fatal Abacus. "With this, every time a monster of ours goes to the graveyard, that player loses 500 lifepoints. Ergo.." The sacrifice of Serenade took 500 lifepoints away from Zach. "Terrific.." He moaned.

Zach's LP: 7500

"Oh I have more." A third trap was used. "Paleozoic Marrella, it sends one trap card from my deck the graveyard." The trap he sent was called Paleozoic Olenoides. A pattern was emerging. "Paleozoic.. trapmonsters." The pattern had been there since Kuribandit. Three of the cards that Bandit had sent to the graveyard were Paleozoic cards. "Exactly; as you can see monsters dying is not going to be an issue for me. When a Paleozoic trap is activated, any Paleozoic trap in the graveyard can be summoned to the field as just a monster card!" The activation of Paleozoic Marrella awakened the sleeping fossils. "I special summon Paleozoic Eldonia, Dinomischus and Hallucigenia!" A round diskshaped shell(2/1200/0), a deepsea tendril sprouting flower(2/1200/0) and a green worm(2/1200/0) with spines and teeth; these were the living forms of the trapmonsters. "History is fascinating, don't you think? I wonder what the future will say about us."

(To be Continued in Annex 054: Notes in the Sand)

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Djinn Releaser of Rituals

 **New Cards used by Zach Creffield  
** Serenade the Melodious Diva

 **Cards used by XYZ-duelist 2  
** Artifact Durendal

-  
Parallel Twister

 **Cards used by Ichirou Azora  
** Kuribandit

-  
Paleozoic Marella  
Paleozoic Olenoides  
Paleozoic Eldonia  
Paleozoic Dinomichus  
Paleozoic Hallucigena  
Fatal Abacus


	54. Notes in the Sand

**Annex 054: Notes in the Sand**

Ichirou's LP: 8000 Zach's LP: 7500

"What, you're asking what people will think about us once we're dead? That's one creepy way to think!" Eric was not sure what possessed Ichirou to make such questions, and he did not want to find out either. "That might have been a bit morbid. But is is more relevant than you can imagine. The future is being shaped as we speak, and not everyone will make it." He said, yet he did not let Zach continue his turn just yet. "Paleozoic Dinomischus!" He activated a second Dinomischus card as a trap. "I discard one card from my hand to banish one card on the field!" In its trap form it could shock Zach's Melodious Mozarta(8/2600/2000) to remove it completely. "Look out Zachary, he is going after you lady!" Dom shouted. "I know sir!" Zach responded in time with his trap. "Melodious Illusion! I target Mozarta with this trap to make her immune to your spells and traps! And she can attack twice during this turns battle phase!" The Maestra split into two forms, one illusory and one real. The Dinomischus' electric discharge harmlessly passed through the illusion.

"I do not believe he needs your help, cardmaker. You trained him well after all." Ichirou grinned. "But so was I by my superiors." Now that another Paleozoic trap card had been activated, he could special summon more trapmonsters from the graveyard. "Paleozoic Marella, Paleozoic Olenoides!" A spiked arthropod(2/1200/0) and a crimson trilobite(2/1200/0) joined the already revived Paleozoic. "Yes you handle your cards quite well, Ichirou. However, I know that Paleozoic are selfbanishers. They can never be summoned again if they leave the field!" Zach activated the effect of Mozarta to special summon a Light-type fairy from his hand. "Opera the Melodious Diva!" His next diva was only a tiny fairy(4/2400/1000) in a purple dress, but she had a very powerful voice. "I will attack three of them!" Opera, Mozarta and her Illusion clone combined their voices. Their song devastated Ichirou's monster zone, destroying Canadia(2/1200/0), Marrella and Olenoides.

"Would have been better if he hadn't summoned them all in defense mode." Eric commented. Ichirou was down to two monsters already. ".. Maybe he only needed the two." Uno had concerns, stemming from the fact that Ichirou's expression did not change. "...I set these." The spells that Zach could not use because of Anti-Spell Fragrance were placed face-down. "I end my turn." Next turn they would have their chance. "Well done, disciple. Not that I expected to surprise you with my cards." Ichirou activated his last trap card, Paleozoic Pikaia. It discarded a Paleozoic card from a players hand, another Paleozoic Eldonia in this case, to draw two cards from that players deck. "Nor are you unaware of their loophole." Now he placed the remaining fossilmonsters, Dinomischus(2/1200/0) and Eldonia(2/1200/0), on top of each other. "They do not banish themselves if they do not actually leave the field." A rank 2 XYZ-monster was placed above them. "Here it comes!" Dom shouted.

"I XYZ-summon Paleozoic Opabinia in defense mode!" A segmented and lobed monster(2/0/2400) scuttled out of the holographic ground. "Opabinia is unaffected by monster effects, and he adds Paleozoics from my deck to my hand. Like this one.." The red creature absorbed the attached Dinomischus through its proboscis-mouth, sending it to the graveyard. Than it spat out a second Paleozoic Olenoides trap card. "But the best part, I should say, is its continuous effect. Opabinia gives me the ability to activate Paleozoic traps from my hand!" The XYZ-duelist activated his recent acquisition. "Paleozoic Olenoides can destroy one trap or spell card on the field. One of them was your fusion spell, wasn't it? Well.." The trilobite shattered Zach's left spell card; Fusion Substitute. ".. that is what you call a bingo." That was indeed the card Zach would have fused his Melodious with on the next turn, of all the luck. "I special summon my traps again." With the activation of the second Olenoides; the second Eldonia(2/1200/0), the pink chordate worm Pikaia(2/1200/0) and two Dinomischus monsters all regained their fleshy bodies. "That was an XYZ-monster with just 2 materials. Now let's do three."

The very next instant, Pikaia and the Dinomischus Paleozoics were overlayed. "I'll Xyz-summon Paleozoic Anomalocaris in attack mode!" A demonic darkblue anomalocarid(2/2400/0), the predecessor of the shrimp, took its spot on the field. "He is also unaffected by other monsters' effects. And when Anomalocaris has Trap card XYZ-Materials: it can destroy any card on the field." The creature absorbed the attached Pikaia and extended its claws towards Mozarta the Melodious Diva. "I had a feeling it would be this way, Ichirou!" Zach had one way out of this, a dangerous one. "I activate Flash Fusion!" Not all his spells were normal spells. Flash Fusion was a quickplay spell that fused monsters instantly. "I fusion summon Schuberta the Melodious Maestra!" Opera and Mozarta were merged during an explosion of light that lasted a fraction of a second. The dying light revealed the fused Melodious conductor(6/2400/2000) with long flowing hair. "I activate her effect!" Schuberta waved her wand to target Paleozoic Olenoides, Pikaia and Kuribandit in the graveyard. The three cards were banished, while Schuberta(3000/2000) gained 200 attackpoints for each banishment. However, due to Fatal Abacus, Zach took another hit to his lifepoints.

Zach's LP: 6500

"Wait a second, arent Flash fused monsters destroyed during the endphase?" Eric wondered out loud. "Normally, yes. But a monster fused with Opera the Melodious Diva cannot be destroyed by card effects during that turn! Quite an ingenious little card if I do say so myself." Dom was happy to explain it. "That was very illuminating, cardmaker. However, your disciple is merely delaying the inevitable. Anomalocaris can destroy monsters in _either_ turn." Ichirou placed two cards down and ended his turn. In the following turn Anomalocaris detached another trapmaterial to activate its effect. This time its claws cut through Schuberta like a knife through butter. "That is what all of you are doing, really. You are trying to stop something which cannot be stopped."

"Something?" All this talk made Uno remember the words from the Prophecy sisters and the things he had seen in his nightmares. "Ichirou.. what do you know?" The last XYZ-duelist he saw could not tell him much, but maybe the second in command could.. "Oh? I know a lot of things! What do you want to know? Do you want to hear the troubled history of Zachary Creffield? That is an intriguing tale.." Ichirou responded with spurious laughter. "That is not what he asked, Ichirou!" Zach yelled. "Oh, are you ashamed of it, Disciple? Are you ashamed of your past?" Ichirou ignored him and turned to Eric and Uno. "Did you know that the name Creffield belongs to a family from another country, one with great power and wealth? Creffield senior is a high-ranking general in their army. His son was to follow in his footsteps, but he forsook his duty and joined Dreamworld instead. Now his father disavowed him."

"That is quite enough!" Zach raised his voice even more. "This has nothing to do with our duel! It my turn!" Zach activated an effect from his graveyeard. "Fusion Substitute can banish itself and a fusion monster from the graveyard, to draw one card!" The spell and Schuberta were removed. Zach added a spell from his deck to his hand. "I activate 1st Movement Solo to special summon a Melodious from my deck!" He controlled no monsters, so the Solo spell could put one on the field; Melodious Diva Aria(4/1600/1200). "She will attack Anomalocaris!" The diva flew into the air and inhaled. "Hm?" Then she cut loose with her overwhelming song. By itself the song was not strong enough to overpower the XYZ-monster. That was why Zach also activated a card from his hand. "Honest!" The virtuous warrior angel synced up. By discarding it from the hand, the light-type Aria would gain the attackpoints of Anomalocaris until the end the of battle phase. "Paleozoic Hallucigenia." Ichirou used a trap in the last few seconds of his Paleozoic's life to halve his own monsters attackpoints. Then it(1200/0) died to Aria(2800/1200)'s attack. For once Fatal Abacus took 500 lifepoints away from his master.

Ichirou's LP: 5900

"I was just making conversation, Creffield. I know you like to talk. But to say it colorfully; if it is going to be a one-way street, there is no need to slow down. Once, when a trap goes from my spell/trap zone to my graveyard, Anomalocaris excavates the top card of my deck. If it is a Trap Card, it's added to my hand. If not, I send it to the Graveyard." The XYZ-duelist revealed that Paleozoic Hallucigenia had triggered his XYZ-monsters final effect before it could be destroyed. The top card on his deck was Paleozoic Leanchoilla, another trap card, so Ichirou could claim it. "As I was given damage, I can activate Discovering Destiny; it draws one card." The hit Ichirou took allowed him to use a drawing trap. "My turn." His opponent was too livid to verbally end his turn. Ichirou went ahead regardless. With the effect of Paleozoic Opabinia, Paleozoic Leanchoilla was activated from the duelists hand. Leanchoilla could return one banished card to the graveyard. "I unbanish Paleozoic Pikaia. And now I will summon two Dinomischus and one Hallucigenia." With that traps activation, three more Paleozoic traps could revive themselves in attack position. Two were the Dinomischus seaplants, while Hallucigenia was a green worm(2/1200/0) with spines and teeth.

"Nice try, Ichi! But a special summoned Melodious Aria cannot be targeted by card effects or destroyed in battle!" Dom stated defiantly, knowing that any XYZ-monster could not get around Aria's protective effects. "Oh, but that was not what I was after, cardmaker. And please, do not call me Ichi." Ichirou detached Opabinia's last material to add another Paleozoic from his deck to his hand, the third and final Paleozoic Olenoides. "I activate this card now to destroy my own trap!" Olenoides targeted Anti-Spell Fragrance to break it. "Huh? Why... He is gonna use a spell!" Eric gasped. "Excellent deduction, Stonewell." Ichirou activated a field spell, Wetlands. "Wetlands will add 1200 attackpoints to all Aqua-water monsters of level 1 and 2!" Digital rain and long blades of grass covered the office. In this environment the aqua-type/water-attribute Paleozoic(2400/0) all thrived. "Though she might not die, she will still feel the pain." Ichirou entered the battle phase and sent his ancient monsters to attack Aria. Eldonia, Hallucigenia and the two Dinomischus struck with barnacles, tentacles and spikes. "Now I will do what you thought I would do. Overlay!" All four trap cards became materials to create a second Paleozoic Anomalocaris(2/2400/0). The prehistoric shrimp could use as many level 2 monsters as it wanted as XYZ-materials. "I do wonder though, if I may, how things would have been had you been on our side. You are a good duelist, Zachary Creffield."

Zach's LP: 4100

"You'd think I would want to join an outfit like yours?" Zach scoffed. "I am just saying, how do you know you are not fighting for the wrong man? Your master made the dueldisks the way they were. Did he tell you about that? Better yet, was he the one who made you abandon you military career? Dom has a way with words. Your past is public record, but his is not. Why would he hide that, I wonder?" Ichirou did not have any cards to play anymore, so he ended his turn and let the thoughts sink in. "I see what you are doing, Ichirou! It wont work. The masters inventions were for the sake of duelists and entertainment, nothing else!" Zach clenched his shaking hand. "Why should we listen to a thing you say when you do not want to tell us why you are doing this? I do not need to excuse my past to you!"

"Zachary.." Dom seemed a bit taken aback by Zach's outburst. "Hey... I hired you because you earned my trust, and that's not easy for someone to do! Your own input is always important, so say whatever is on your chest." The master had faith in his disciple, he would not betray him so willingly. "Sir, thank you. I let myself go there. If Iria heard..." Usually she was the one who had such outbursts. "Uno, Eric. I am saying this to you as well. Dom is a good man. Ichirou has it the wrong way around. Dom asked me to join him _because_ I left my father. I never felt at home in His environment, I wanted to pursue a different future, I wanted to make people happy.. Dreamworld gave me that chance. Now you are trying to take it away.." Right now his and Doms future depended on a single card. "Draw!" All he had was what his deck would give him. "...This will suffice. I activate Ties of the Brethren!" It was a spell, one that carried the steep cost of 2000 lifepoints.

Zach's LP: 2100

"Ties of the Brethren targets one level 4 monster I control and special summons two monsters from the deck with a different name, but with the same level, attribute and type!" Aria was a light-fairy type monster, another Opera the Melodious Diva(4/2400/1000) and Soprano the Melodious Songstress(4/1400/1400) had the same type and element and could be called to the field. "When Soprano is special summoned, I can take back one Melodious!" Zach took the first Opera Diva out of the graveyard and normal summoned her to the field. "Interesting, but you can't special summon again during the turn you use that spell. You can't enter the battle phase either. It looks like you are stuck, disciple." Ties of the Brethren was a powerful spell, with powerful limiters. "Maybe, but you can't so easily break through either." Zach switched Aria to defense mode and ended his turn. "Aha, an excellent choice of words. Except, time is my friend and not yours." On that very moment, the noises behind the door came back. "Crap, backup!" Eric assumed the worst. The duel had taken too long. "Time's up.."

The door broke open and revealed.. Iria Silver. She had simply used her keys to get in. "Sir! I am so glad to see you are safe! I came as soon as I could!" She said as she saw her master again. "Well, safe is a relative term here." Uno replied, trying to see if anyone was behind her. Ichirou tried the same. "Where.. are the others? You can't have beaten them all by yourself?" There was nobody else, just her. "I did encounter some of your companions along the way here. I disposed of them, just like I did with the people who attacked me outside. It's just you now, Ichirou." Iria noticed that he was already in a duel, with just Zach. "Creffield, haven't you won yet? Why aren't you two assisting him?" She cast accusing glares towards Eric and Uno. "We wanted to! There's a forcefield in the way!" Eric slapped his hand against the invisible wall, receiving a shock as a reward. "Ow!"

"I was making progress, Iria." Zach attempted to brag. By this time Ichirou's smiling facade began to crack. "You were not, disciple. You were about to lose. Anyone that comes after you is going to fall as well. It is my turn!" He drew a card from his deck. "Tch." It was another Paleozoic Canadia, a trapmonster that targeted the opponents monsters to switch them face-down. He could not activate that while Aria was on the field, nor could he special summon the Paleozoic monsters that were in his graveyard right now. "You are fortunate, disciples of Dom." He placed that card down, in case it ever would be needed. "However eventually our forces will win and find us here. There is no escape." With Anomalocaris' effect he destroyed Fatal Abacus as it served no purpose anymore, Zach's monsters were unlikely to perish. "The clock is ticking."

"Zach, do you believe you can finish without my help?" Iria asked. She estimated she could break the barrier if she had to. "..I am certain, Silver. The cards Dom made will not let me down. Patience is all I ask for." The last drawphase had been helpful. This one needed to do more, he needed a card to turn the scene around. "Get him for me, Zachary!" His master was in front of him, Iria behind. The trio was in this together. "I draw..." And his deck was there for him, once again. "Sonata the Melodious Diva!" His lifesaver had arrived. "I can special summon her when I already have a Melodious on the field! When I do, all my melodic angels will gain 500 attack and defense points!" The azure-haired diva(3/1200/1000) gracefully landed on the grass. She(1800/1500) sang the song of divine strength, Soprano the Songstress(1900/1900), Aria(2100/1700) and the Opera Divas(2900/1500) all joined in. Their voices joined as one to create a sweet yet intense harmony. "Are you ready for this, Ichirou? And a One, and a Two!" Zach waved his hand around to declare his attacks. One Opera Diva destroyed Paleozoic Opabinia. The other killed Paleozoic Anomalocaris.

Ichirou's LP: 5400

"Three, four, five!" Aria, Soprano and Sonata delivered their sonic attacks directly. The XYZ-duelist covered his ears. "Aaagh!" The remainder of his lifepoints went down. "He got him!" Eric cried victoriously. "Eventually." Even Iria was mildly pleased with his performance. The only one with a negative response was Ichirou himself. Though he found some amusement from his fate. "Hahah.. too bad. My secrets will stay with me." The damage was too much for him and he fell down. The barrier he had put up turned itself off.

Ichirou's LP: 0

"Well.. that worked." Dom concluded at the end. "Hold on sir." Iria immediately rushed over to him to untie his ropes. "Thank you Iria, and you especially Zachary..." The master stretched his arms and legs. It felt good to move again. "..and thank you too Uno and Eric. You made for a nice distraction." He said off-hand, as if he had not just gone through a rough ordeal. "Dom. What are you going to do about this.. all of this?" The disciples could tie up Ichirou to keep him at bay, but there were still a hundred duelists who would try to stop them outside. "If only we could repower the security fields." Zach suggested. "We should try to contact the outside world." Iria added a stipulation. "Let's go back out there and fight!" Eric had his own ideas. "Okay, now. Those are all good plans, but we don't have enough time. My little countervirus wont last much longer. The key element here is the information. We need to smuggle it out of here."

"Didn't you say you had it all in your head!" Eric protested. "Oh that? I lied. No way I am gonna remember all that. No, Ichirou was right. I encrypted the data and hid the codes in the last place they would look." Dom took out three cards, a Fusion, Synchro and XYZ-monster. One was Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon. "That's.." All three looked like altered Odd-Eyes Dragons. "Exactly.. Uno, this is your show now."

(To be Continued in Annex 055: LongTerm Division/Reunion)

 **New Cards used by Zach Creffield  
** Opera the Melodious Diva  
Honest

-  
Flash Fusion  
Fusion Subsitute  
Ties of the Brethren

-  
Melodious Illusion

 **New Cards used by Ichirou Azora  
** Paleozoic Opabinia  
Paleozoic Anomalocaris

-  
Wetlands

-  
Discovering Destiny  
Paleozoic Pikaia  
Paleozoic Hallucigenia  
Paleozoic Leanchoilla


	55. Longterm DivisionReunion

**Annex 055: Long Term Division/Reunion**

"These cards.. why do they look like this?" First Dark-Rebellion XYZ Dragon and now there were these two; Starve-Venom Fusion Dragon and Clear-Wing Synchro Dragon. Uno did not understand. When he tried to recall Doms previous explanation, all he could remember was the rage. "Like I said the last time, the dragons were made to lead in the new age. UNO says he based on a story that he never got around to releasing, the dragons and the magicians. Once this tournament was done, people would get pendulum support cards for their specific brand. And depending on which guild won, one of these dragons would start being printed. These are the prototypes." There were three cards for thrww guilds. "With your deck, you could easily summon all three of them. We were going to print the fourth card too, but then you came along. Which reminds me!" He motioned his fingers towards the equipment on the table. Iria got it for him and gave it to Uno. "Your dueldisk and your real deck. We couldn't find anything wrong with it, so you can have it back." Dom then inserted some more cards including the three dragons and a few pendulum monsters. "I took the liberty of spicing up your deck. You gotta be on your best when you're my courier."

"Wait, what about the data?" Eric was still lost on certain details, and he was sure he had not zoned out during Doms explanation. "Well, it wasn't deleted, technically! Ichirou was right about that, UNO would kill me if I undid all our hard work. I encrypted everything and split the decryption key into three parts, into these three cards. Only someone with all three Dragons can put it all back together. It gives it a nice symbolic touch; the guilds' deserve the info if only they could work together. Allthough I don't think this is just about solid vision technology or the blank slate program. I wish I knew what they wanted." At this point, Zach opened the trapdoor. "Zachary will guide you. If you take these tunnels all the way to the end, you will reach a helipad beyond the park zone. Use the helicopter to fly away from this mess and bring the cards safely to dreamworlds HQ." Uno stared at the tunnels and then back at Dom. "What about the others? The Brandts?" He was not going to abandon them here. "Sure, take them too. There is plenty of room! Iria and I will stay behind to do whatever we can to sort this out. We'll keep in contact and tell you where your friends are as soon as we find out. There's a dozen exits out and into the tunnels that the guilds wont know about."

"So I need to help you, Dom?" Uno accepted the dueldisk. "I don't really trust you,. But I do trust the faith Zach and Iria seem to have in you. I'll do it. But we're not done with each other." There were still many secrets that this man had an answer for. "Obviously! But the only one who can really fix everything is UNO. Stick around with us, and you will probably hear from him!" That was all Uno needed to hear. The crisis took priority right now, but later he definitely wanted to meet the man he took his name from. "Let's go Uno!" Eric had already gone down the stairs. "Yes." He and Zach followed. The disciple looked to his boss and counterpart one last time. "I will return for you as soon as possible, sir." He closed the door.

...

The security center was a busy place. Dozens of park visitors and regulars had gotten the same idea as Alice and her mother; to hide in here. Most came to complain to the staff to do something about the madness, but there were only so few of them and there were a hundred duelists with monstrous holograms out there. Their hands were tied. The best anyone could do was to make this place as safe as possible. The XYZ-guild did not seem interested in them. Alice herself had hoped that more people would show up at the center. She and Heather still had not heard from Emily or from Uno. Imagining what was happening to them was the worst part of waiting. "There she is! Em!" Thankfully, Emily and Cassius had noticed the influx of people and followed their example; coming in through the front door. "My darling! Are you alright? Did they hurt you? I had no idea where you were!" Mrs. Brandt had her daughter in her arms not a second later. "I'm sorry. I left my phone.. We would have come here sooner, but we had to make sure we werent followed.. Wait... are _you_ alright?"

"Oh. It was awful. Those men in black wanted to keep fighting.." Her mother explained. "Fighting? Alice!?" Emily sawthat her sister had a few scrapes on her. "Oh.." Rather than answering her, she gave Emily a hug of her own. "It's over now. We'll be safe here, wont we?" She had a smile on her face in spite of everything. Or possibly just because she was with her sister again. "Yeah. We will be. Nobody is going to come after you two again." Emily would make sure of that. "But where is Uno?" His absence was noteworthy. "That man from the company called him. He was going to save Dom." Heather told Cassius what little she knew. "Dom? But he's at the theater? That's crazy!" That was the last place where anyone should be right now. "My companions are still out there...Is there any way we can get contact with them?" Cassius asked one of the guards around. "I am afraid not, mister Cassius. All lines are still down, we cannot call anyone inside or outside this park." They were practically blind. "There has got to be something we can do.." Cassius insisted.

".. I can help you!" The voice that responded to him first was not one he had counted on. It came from one of the cells in the hallway. "You?" It was Kyle, still detained for his assault on Adamant. "You're not saying we should let you out?" The guards had a great deal of second thoughts about that. "I know what is going on and you know it too now. This is what I warned everyone for and you did not listen until it was too late! The man I attacked is the man who is attacking hundreds of innocents right now!" Sitting inside his cell all day and listening to the terror going on outside these walls was enough to drive him mad. "I heard about what you did, Kyle. Even if it was against someone like Adamant, you did not do it for us. When you're free, you'd just go straight to him to get revenge." Cassius shook his head. He did not want that kind of help. "Wait. I forget who I am talking too.." Kyle started to laugh. "You're another guildleader. You already knew what kind of monster Adamant was.. Forget it. I'm not helping another guild!"

"A monster? Adamant is doing this too?" Alice suddenly asked. "Alice? Why are you asking that? Look what they did to you." Her mother did not get why she sounded so unbelieving. "But.. they aren't all the same. They can't be, why would they do this to each other?"

...

Adamant's LP: 8000 Team Synchro's LP: 8000

"That's more than we need from you, ex-champion!" Said Jet as he and several members of the synchro guild had the XYZ-duelist surrounded. "When it is the three of us against one of you, there is no way we lose!" Due to the rules of battle royal mode, multiple duelists could engage one target if they all used the same pool of lifepoints. The XYZ-guild had performed many hit-and-runs this way, and now they were fighting back. As a whole, the XYZ-guild had sustained the most losses so far, but nobody had yet been able to lay a finger on commander Roma. Jet was here to change that. He had his two Blackwing synchro monsters on the field, Obsidian Hawk Joe(7/2600/2000) and Blackwing Chidori the Light Rain(7/3800/2000). The latter gained 300 attackpoints from the four Blackwings in Jets graveyard. He was joined by the synchro veteran Gareth, who had Goyo Guardian(6/2800/2000) on the field and one face-down trap card, and another duelist who controlled Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons(8/3000/3000) and two trap cards. The odds were not in Adamants favor.

"Laughable." Nevertheless Adamant treated his opponents as nuisances rather than challenges. He had experienced superior power and this was not it. "Raidraptor Vanishing Lanius and Raidraptor Mimicry Lanius!" He normal summoned the green machine bird(4/1300/1600) and used its effect to special summon the blue mimic bird(4/1100/1900) from his hand. "Raidraptor Call!" Then he activated a spell card that targeted one Raidraptor and special summoned another with the same name in defense mode. Raidraptor Call 'called' out a Mimicry Lanius(4/1100/1900) from his deck. In return the spell demanded that nothing but Raidraptors could be summoned this turn. "You think you're going to stop us with just Rise Falcon?" Jet scoffed. Even if one were to disregard the traps they had placed, Beelze alone was more than a match for his XYZ-monsters. It could not be destroyed and it would gain attackpoints each time any of them took damage.

"Can you see the future? No, you cannot. Do not dare to presume my actions, synchro guild!" Angered, Adamant activated the effect of his other Lanius monsters. "Did you forget? Mimicry Lanius can raise the level of all raidraptors by 1!" Both Mimicry Lanius birds invoked this power, increasing their own(6/1100/1900) levels and the level of Vanishing Lanius(6/1300/1600). "Not good.." Gareth cried out. "You're going straight for rank 6?" Now that he controlled three level 6 monsters he could.. "Obviously.. XYZ-summon!" .. overlay them to summon the great Raidraptor Revolution Falcon(6/2000/3000) from his extra deck. "Out of my sight!" Adamant activated another spell card that could be used if the player controlled a monster with a rank of 6 and above; XYZ-Burst. "Gah!" This spell wiped out all set cards on the field. Everyone's traps (Descending Lost Star, Mystical Space Typhoon and Dimensional Prison) were shattered like fragile vases.

"I do not need to tell you this.. but I will. You are next!" Adamant detached a material from Revolution Falcon. Now his XYZ-monster could attack each monster on the field once. Then he entered the battle-phase. Revolution Falcon released fumes of napalm from its wings to blast away the attackpower of each of its targets. "Fire!" The falcon rose high into the sky and dropped its bombs down on Goyo Guardian(0/2000), and Blackwing Chidori(0/2000) and Blackwing Hawk Joe(0/2000). No matter how much attackpoints they had before, all of it was burned away. Even Beelze(9000/3000), who had acquired 2000 attackpoints each time one of the synchro duelists took a hit to their lifepoints, lost its(0/3000) gains once it fell under the Raidraptors shadow. The final bomb exploded in front of it. "Argh... screw you!" Jet uttered one last curse of contempt before the shockwaves of the destruction pushed all three of them off the stage. Their downfall had been their teamwork. Their combined lifepoints were depleted with four attacks.

Team Synchro's LP: 0

"Good to see you haven't lost your touch, Adamant. I did not need to step in." Roma let out a hearty chuckle as the ex-champion adequately defended _his_ position. "..Would you have?" Adamant was not sure. He was not all smiles and laughs either way. "Of course. I may know everything you know, but you are of no use to me.. to us, if you're not in the fight. And you still are, aren't you?" He turned the questioning back around. Roma had noticed a few signs of apprehension in his former leader. Either he was against his plan or he simply disliked taking orders. "I am. This is my guild, Roma. These are the duelists that should prevail. The others are not worthy of the power." Whichever was the case, Adamant did not comment on it. Their attention moved towards the remaining guilds. "What do you think they are doing, Adamant?" While the Synchro Guild and Independents were throwing themselves at every last XYZ-duelist, parts of the Fusion guild seemed to be pulling back and regrouping. "I do not know, but I do not like it. Has Ichirou reported in yet?" Adamant inquired. "He has not. That is worrisome." Right now their guild still had the advantage. The only problem was that they were not going anywhere and they had little to show for it yet.

Looking down on the XYZ-duo from afar was Dame Phoebe, who had retreated to the inside of the theater. "Dame! Why are we falling back? We should be fighting!" One of the duelists who came with her, Bakker, felt guilty about letting the Synchro guild do all the work. "We will. It is just that some interesting information came to our attention." The girl said calmly as she rested her head and her left hand. "Some. Thing. Interesting?" Behind her was the person she had been waiting on. "Ah. You have arrived." In the hallway stood a short figure, hidden in black robes. He was holding his left arm up, as if it was held in a brace. "Is it interesting.. for me too?" He seemed to speak with a broken disembodied tone. "Out there, you will find plenty to add to your collection." Phoebe told him as she balled her hand into a fist. "Glad." The hooded figure proceeded onward into the battlefield. "Who..was that?" Bakker assumed that kid was part of their guild, his robed carried the symbol of fusion. However he had never seen someone like him before. "One of our secret weapons.."

...

"Ah! They're coming from the ground, like mole-men!" At the center, Alice and the others saw part of the floor turn outwards. "Wait. It's just Uno.. Uno!" Three people came out of the ground. "And Zach, and Eric!" Alice was glad to see each and every one of them. "Eric?" Emily's reaction was slightly more subdued, largely due to the presence of the third. "Emily.. uh.. Hi." This was the first time they had seen each other directly since their duel. "You two can settle things at a later time. Right now we are in a bit of a hurry. We have a helicopter waiting on us, and I can fly everyone to Dreamworld HQ." Zach said hurriedly. They had taken enough risks with this detour as it was. "Hurry? What is going on exactly?" Mrs. Brandt wanted some answers before she just jumped down a hole. "Is is a secret maze?" Alice guessed. "Sort of. This is an underground network of tunnels goes to every key location in the amusement park." Uno was surprised himself, he had under-estimated Doms precautionary paranoia.

"What about the others stuck here?" There were a lot of people who would also like to use this network to get out, as Cassius was quick to point out. "You're quite right. Frederick!.." Zach called for one of the guards. "Once we are gone, see to it that all the men and women here find their way out. The second path to the east should go straight to the parking lot." The guard nodded silently and began to organize the group swarming the place. "That has to do. We should move on now.." The disciple was the first to walk back down the stairs. "We do have to be quick. Emily, Alice, Mrs Brandt... We can talk on the way there." Uno waited until he got a response from them. "Emily.. can we please just get out of here?" Alice was eager to go. "I know, I know. This was just a bit.. unexpected.. Mom, Aaron. Let's leave." It was going along or waiting it out here. The choice was obvious.

The path to the helipad was complicated and long. The minutes they needed to close the distance gave Uno the opportunity to relay the latest with the others, and to give Alice her own dueldisk back. She was glad to have that model instead of the one she had to use against the XYZ-duelist. Moments later she tried to get a certain sister to talk with a certain neighbor. "Come on, sis. He is right there.." Alice pleaded with Emily. She could not stand the awkwardness between the two. "Were the two of you fighting again?" Heather had not picked up on it herself because Eric and Emily commonly butted heads in the past. "No! ..Yes, but that was a duel. I just.. we.. argh. Eric I am sorry I thought you were turning your back on us! I know why you joined the guild now!" She just blurted it out to get it over with. "What I did? Emily, what are you talking about?" Eric seemed utterly baffled by her outburst. "Huh? The thing you were doing for youknowwho?" Emily referred to Zach and Iria of course, yet Eric still stared at her with blsnk eyes. "Someone's here!" Uno broke the standoff up as the sound of footsteps crept in.

"Is that any word to use for a friend?" A certain individual walked right up to them from the shadows of the tunnel. "You?" It was Meridian. "Oh that is right, you did not want to be our friend." He swept his hair aside and activated his dueldisk. "Bah!" Uno's dueldisk was the target, it had been drawn into a duel. "Hey? What are you doing?" Uno snapped at him. "What a boring question, Uno. Think, what is the one thing I would ante you for? I'll give you three guesses." He emphasized the word 'three' rather deliberately. Meridian activated the Ante program. Uno could not take any of his cards out until he he wagered one of them. The card that Meridian had thrown in the pool was a mint-condition ghost-foil Gemknight. "The dragons." Uno only needed one guess. "Is the Fusion Guild is making its move too? How did you find out about them?" It shouldn't have been possible. Zach was the masters disciple and even he did not hear about the decryption key splitting until today. "We have our sources. We know that Dom has split his valuable files across three cards and that you carry them. Once you placed them in your dueldisk, they became ripe for the picking."

"I hate to break it to you, Meridian. But you can only ante for one card at a time..." There were rules for Ante duels. Unfortunately those rules also forbade interference. Uno would have to finish this duel on his own. "I will stake Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon." Once Uno made _his_ investment, the disk released his cards. He took out both the Synchro Dragon and Fusion Dragon. "Zach. Keep these with you." He tossed the two towards the disciple. "Clever. But this is not just about that, Uno. This is also about a word that anyone can understand." Meridian inserted his own deck into his dueldisk. "Revenge. Revenge for what you did to me."

Meridians LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

(To be Continued in Annex 056: Can't Buy you Friends)

 **New Cards used by Adamant  
** Raidraptor - Call  
XYZ Burst

 **Cards used by Synchro-Duelists  
** Goyo Guardian  
Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons

-  
Mystical Space Typhoon

-  
Descending Lost Star  
Dimensional Prison


	56. Can't Buy You Friends

**Annex 056:** **Can't Buy You Friends**

"Sir. I managed to secure this room. I am afraid that is far as I can extend my influence." For the last few minutes Iria had been working on the shield system to get it back online. The office was now protected by its own barrier. Sadly the XYZ-guild still controlled everything outside. "It will have to do. So, not being rhetorically here.. what is happening outside?" Dom could now see the duels in the theater on the big screen and things had taken a sudden sharp for the bizarre, as the Fusion Guild came back with reinforcements. "I don't know sir." These new duelists had no fusion symbol on any of their clothes. In fact they looked like ordinary people. "Perhaps they bought their loyalty." At the very least this would keep the guilds occupied while Uno and the others snuck away.

"Sir, I do have a question. Why did you give the three cards to Uno? I am not questioning your faith in him. However if you were sending Zach along with him, it would have served the same purpose to simply give Zach the cards. You must have a reason for involving Uno." Even if they needed help, Uno did not need to be the duelist for the cards. "You know. It's times like these that I remember why I hired you; you never miss." Dom chuckled a little and cleared his throat. "UNO never told me why those four cards all look alike, or what their story was. I don't like not knowing things. I wanted to see what would happen if Uno used one of those dragons in a duel. Since Zach is with him, everything should go smoothly enough that it wont come to any violent outbursts. If anything goes wrong, I'll apologize later."

...

"Dom divided the key to his database? Clever. Anyone who holds all three cards, can strengthen or destroy the guilds." This was the first Cassius heard of this. He seemed very interested. "Normally I would love to debate the philosophical and moral aspects of this dilemma, Cassius. But these cards are not safe here." The disciple Zach could sense what Cassius wanted to say. He held his two cards close to himself. Their attacker Meridian seemed willing to duel for the remaining card in Uno's dueldisk.

Meridians LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"Hey. This really is the worst time, place and reason to duel right now!" So much so that he did not give any attention to Emily's frustrated rants. "Eric, say something to this guy. You're in his guild too." She laid off and gave Eric a turn to shout at him. "Meridian? Is this what the guild wants? Or are you just doing this for yourself?" Eric had definitely never heard anything about the Fusion Guild's desiring Doms database. "What an inane question, Stonewell. I _am_ doing this for the guild. Are you as well? Or are you _their_ friend instead?" Meridian had an odd sort of laugh as he spoke, like he'd just told a joke that nobody else got. "Let me make it clear that I did overhear your discussions. I know now that you have been working for Dreamworld all along." The conversations jad involved Eric's spying duties for a certain youknowwho. "N-no! We were talking about.. Eric's mom..back at home. He was going to get her a present!" Alice tried to spin it into a new story. Tried being the operative word.

"Unlikely." Meridian drew his cards. "Regardless, I have no time for you Eric. Your fate rests with someone else... No, Uno has my eyes now. As long as neither side possesses all three cards, nobody can make use of them." Meridian started the game as he always did, with a fusion summon. "I activate Gemknight Fusion!" With a spell he fused the Gemknights Garnet and Obsidian in his hand. "Gemknight Ruby!" Garnet formed the base for the caped knight(6/2500/1300) in ruby-red armor. It was summoned in defense position. "Additionally, I'll activate the effect of Gem-Knight Obsidian!" When Gemknight Obsidian was sent from the hand to the graveyard, another Gem-Knight could be special summoned from the graveyard. Gemknight Garnet(4/1900/0) was the one Meridian chose to put back on the field in defense position. "Two cards left. I know their place as well." The fusion duelist placed two cards face-down in the spell/trap zone. "This duel will not be the same as last time, Uno." He ended his turn.

"... Guys. Maybe you should move on without me." Uno advised as he started his turn. "What? No.. we can't leave without you! Why are we always splitting up?!" Alice protested. "I know you don't want to. But you may have to. Meridian has got one thing right.. as long as we keep the dragons separated, they can not help anyone." Zach would understand. He had to secure the synchro and fusion dragon in case Uno lost the XYZ dragon. "Mrs. Brandt. Promise me you will get your daughters out of here if things start to turn bad." If he could not convince his friends, maybe he could talk sense to their mother. "Of course." She was already planning on doing that anyway. Alice and Emily always followed her in the end. "Thank you. Now then Meridian, your revenge." Uno normal summoned Performapal Salutiger(4/1700/300). "All of that is because I beat you that one time? Or is that only the reason you took a job from your guild to intercept and challenge me?"

"A little from both worlds. I would not forget the man who took away my chance to enter the tournament." Meridian answered spitefully. "Except you put yourself in that position to begin with, Meridian. Losing is always a possibility!" Uno finally attacked. Performapal Salutiger struck Gemknight Ruby and destroyed the red knight. Salutiger's effect then placed a new Performapal, Performapal Secondonkey, from the deck in Uno's hand. "I would not have minded it, Uno, had it been a just loss. But you.. you conjured a fusion monster out of nothing. You did not earn that victory, and you did not even use it to join us! You have insulted me and the Fusion Guild with just that one move!" Meridian flipped his trap card. "Brilliant Spark! When a Gemknight is destroyed, my enemy will suffer damage equal to the victims original attackpoints!" A diamond stone appeared and cracked open. Brilliant light escaped the cracks and swallowed Uno. "Unf.." Now he got why Meridian had summoned all his Knights in defense; to lure him in.

Uno's LP: 5500

"Did you feel anything Uno?" Emily wondered, since she could not tell if the damage was real like it had been with the XYZ-guild. "Not physically..." Uno had to admit he was a bit surprised. Since this guild was after Doms data too, he figured they had the same solid-vision aspirations. "Meridian, do you even know what your guild wants with the cards?" He proposed his opponent this question as he placed a card in his spell/trap zone and ended his turn.

"What can we _not_ do with Doms knowledge? Phoebe reminded me often enough on what glory I missed out on. Eric will attest to it; the tournament was ours. We will not let the XYZ-guild or you take what we are owed!" Meridian activated a continuous spell. "Brilliant Fusion! I may fuse Gem-Knights in my deck to special summon a Gemknight fusion monster! The Gemknights of Lazuli, Tourmaline and Crystal will form the perfect gem; Gemknight Lady Brilliant Diamond!" The spell cast three differently colored gems into the vortex of fusion and created the queen of all Gemknights, Lady Diamond(10/0/0). "Alas, the monster summoned in such a brilliant way will have its points taken away. Yet by discarding a spell from my hand, Brilliant Fusion can return those points to the summoned monster until your next turn ends! That is a minor price for someone like me." Meridian placed his hand on his graveyard. "By banishing one Gemknight from the graveyard, Gemknight Fusion can return to me!" He banished the Gemknight Obsidian and took back the fusion spell. He immediately discarded that spell so that Brilliant Fusion would unlock the full power of Lady Diamond(3400/2000).

"Now comes the next piece. When I sent Gemknight Lazuli to my graveyard, she forced a normal Gemknight out into my hand." Not only did Meridian return Gemknight Tourmaline from his graveyard, the yellow thunder knight(4/1600/1800) was also normal summoned. "And finally.. my Lady's own effect. She exchanges a Gemknight on the field with a Gemknight in my extra deck! I will special summon Gem-Knight Prismaura!" Gemknight Tourmaline was destroyed and its crystalline remnants formed the white swordsman(7/2450/1400) in prismatic armor. "They will break you, piece by piece. For the cost of one card in my hand, Prismaura can destroy any face-up card you control." Meridian reactivated Gemknight Fusions recycling effect. The spell banished Gemknight Tourmaline to return to his owners hand. Gemknight Fusion was discarded for Prismaura's effect. A triangular beam shot out of its shield and destroyed Performapal Salutiger. "The path to victory is cleared! My Gemknights, attack Uno directly!" Prismaura, Lady Diamond and Garnet launched themselves into the air.

"Cleared?" Uno took one step back and raised his hand up. "You must be repressing our last duel. Here's a refresher!" His gesture flipped a set quick-play spell. "I activate Hippo Carnival!" Three Hippo tokens(1/0/0) were special summoned in defense mode. "That card again?" Meridian was forced to attack the hippos. His three Knights slashed, stabbed and punched the tokens, reducing them into fragments of light. "You know how the saying goes! The more things change, the more they stay the same." Uno did enjoy the fact that he had stopped Meridians onslaught twice with the same spell. "Change? Things will only change once matters are set right!" The fusion duelist moved to his second main phase. For the third time he banished a Gemknight from the graveyard, Gemknight Crystal, to recover the Gemknight Fusion spell card. "By sending a spell card to my graveyard, Brilliant Spark can be reclaimed!" Gemknight Fusion was traded for the Brilliant trap. Naturally Meridian placed that trap card face-down, along with another trap. "What can you do to stop me? Where are your fusions now?!"

"Meridian, I wanted to have a fair duel the last time. I don't know what happened to me then. This time there's more at stake. I will do whatever it takes to win!" Uno normal summoned a new Performapal, a bowtie wearing donkey(4/1000/2000). "Performapal Secondonkey! When this card is normal summoned, I can send a Performapal from my deck to the graveyard!" Secondonkey's effect targeted Performapal Thunderhino and sent it to its grave. "Then I activate the scales, Stargazer and DragonPit Magician!" In the pendulum zones, the white time magician and the dark magician with the spiked crown and collar appeared. "The masters card." Zach was familiar with the latter; it was one of the cards Dom had added to Uno's deck to help defend the dragons. Uno was truly ready to use everything. "Scale 1 and scale 8! Let's see what I will pendulum summon now!" Stargazer and Dragonpit opened a portal between their light pillars, special summoning Performapal Whip Snake(4/1700/600) and Performapal Cheermole (2/600/1000) from Uno's hand in attack position. "Another level 4 monster?" Eric had a good feeling about this. "Here I go, Meridian! I'll use my monsters as XYZ-ma.."

That good feeling evaporated along with Uno's ability to XYZ-summon. "What?" Meridians second trap was activated; Grisaille Prison. "Crap, it's that card. He has a fusion summoned monster so neither player can XYZ-summon this turn! Or Synchro summon!" Eric had seen Grisaille Prison a lot. It was a helpful card against the other guilds. "Then.." Had Uno known, he wouldn't have summoned everything at once. Now his monsters were sitting ducks. "..Whip Snake and Cheermole, target Gemknight Prismaura!" He had to move forward as best he could, by using his Performapals abilities. The snake switched attack and defense points and the Mole stripped 1000 attackpoints away. He had to target Prismaura, it was the biggest threat to his pendulums. "Go, attack!" The snake slithered forward towards the weakened Prism Gemknight(400/2450) and bit it until it crumbled down into dust. "By all means, keep making things simpler for me!" Naturally Meridian countered with Brilliant Spark. The trap triggered upon Prismaura's demise and inflicted 2450 points of effect damage to Uno. "Ngh!" These strikes were starting to take their toll. "Everyone.. you should reconsider the gettingaway-plan."

Meridians LP: 6600 Uno's LP: 3050

"You're not saying you're going to lose, are you?!" Alice was still resistant to the suggestion. The others however were starting to see the point. "He can, but we might los our window of opportunity. With every passing second we risk getting cornered by more duelists from the fusion guild or the XYZ-guild." Cassius tried to make Alice see the danger they were likely still in. "I guess.. but what if we have to fly away without Uno?" If she had to go, she at least wanted to give Uno a chance to catch up. "It will take a while to get the chopper ready; 15 minutes. Uno, that is all I can give you." Zach felt sympathetic, but in the end it was more important to keep the remaining cards out of the Guilds hand. "Got it." Uno was fine with whatever they were going to do. "Uno.. you can win, okay! You will!" Alice said her last few words. That would have to do, she and the rest ran further down the tunnels.

"Such an ordinary parting." Once they were gone, Meridian broke out into a cackle. "What good are 'friends' when they can only help you by running away? I have almost everything I need right here already!.. Almost" Meridian drew his card and smirked. "I summon Crystal Rose!" A rose(2/500/500) made from green and red crystals was formed on the field. "Crystal Rose can send a Gemknight from the hand or deck to the graveyard, to imitate its name! It will copy Gemknight Sapphire!" The rose changed its color into that of sapphire blue. Now that it had this identity, it could be targeted by Lady Brilliant Diamond(10/0/2000), who was once again stripped of her attackpoints. "Lady Diamond will sacrifice Crystal Rose for another Gemknight Lady Diamond!" The Brilliant queen could only be summoned once a turn. Now that Meridian had waited a turn, the first Lady could special summon the second Lady(10/3400/2000) from the extra deck. Meridian also recycled Gemknight Fusion this turn by banishing Gemknight Lazuli. Like the last time, the fusion spell was discarded for Brilliant Fusion, which gave the first Lady Diamond(3400/2000) her original attackpoints.

"My beautiful seeds have been planted now, Uno! By banishing a fusion monster from the graveyard once a turn, Crystal Rose will revive itself!" The rose sprouted from the ground once again, after banishing Gemknight Ruby's remains. "Behold your end!" The Crystal Rose reactivated its effect to send a Gemknight Emerald to the graveyard and to copy its name. The second Brilliant Lady then sacrificed the Emerald Rose to special summon a Gemknight Topaz(6/1800/1800) fusion monster from the extra deck. "Remember him? Topaz can attack two of your monsters each battle phase! And when he ends their lives, you will take damage equal to their attackpoints! This is how you should have died when we last met. This is how you will die today!" Topaz the orange warrior jumped into the air and brought his swords down into Cheermole.

Then, quite intentionally, Uno activated a trap at the last instant. "Last Minute Cancel! All Performapals are switched to defense position! And when they are destroyed, they do not go to the graveyard!" The now defending Mole was destroyed first and it swirled back into Uno's hand. "What did you say?" Meridians eye twitched. Gemknight Topaz could not inflict effect damage if its victims never fell into the graveyard. "What do you think? I'm not going to play dead for you." He smiled back at Meridian. ".. You will not smile for long!" Topaz attacked the defending Snake as well. "Heard that already." Uno activated the effect of Performapal Thunderhino from his graveyard to negate Whip Snake's destruction in battle. "Ragh!" Meridian sent one Gemknight Lady Diamond after the Snake. "Oh, I almost forgot." Uno activated Whip Snake's quick effect to switch the attack and defense points of the attacking Gemknight Lady(2000/3400), just before the pal was run through by her sword. "You..." Meridian had lost too much power to finish Uno off this turn. The second Lady Diamond killed Performapal Secondonkey and Garnet Uno attacked directly. Last Minute Cancel put the Snake and Donkey into his hand. Technically Uno could have done this differently, but he wanted to make sure all his Performapals returned to his hand. "You cannot win either! You think you are superior to me, but you never were!" He banished Gemknight Emerald in the graveyard, reclaimed Gemknight Fusion, discarded it to reclaim Brilliant Spark, and set the trap card down

Uno's LP: 850

"I didn't ask to be superior to anyone, Meridian. I'm not dueling for money or power and I'm not sure if you understand that. You'll understand this though.." It had to be done now. Uno used his pendulum scales to pendulum summon Secondonkey and Whip Snake from his hand again. Cheermole he kept to himself. "XYZ-summon.." Meridian probably had no counters to this anymore, or an idea of what exactly Uno was going to summon. "Dark-Rebellion XYZ Dragon." Uno overlayed his two Performapals and summoned the dark brother of Odd-Eyes; the XYZ Dragon of the Rebellion(4/2500/2000). "My friends are waiting for me. I'm not going to play nice just to make you happy." Uno stated. Unbeknownst to him, the pendant on his chest released a dim glow that slowly grew stronger.

..

As the sun began to set on the horizon the others made it to the helipad. It had been a long day. "Can you fly that contraption?" Heather saw that the helicopter was there and ready to go. "I can. I shall spare you the story of how the master convinced me and Silver to get a license." It was almost bizarre how many of the Masters precautions turned out to be useful. "Anyway. I need to make sure everything is in working order.. Uno still has ten minutes." Zach walked towards the vehicle. Unexpectedly, he was approached by Eric before he could get inside. "Stonewell? What is on your mind?" Eric had this odd look on his face. He wanted to say something. "Sorry..Creffield." Once he did, he made his attack. Eric placed a card on his dueldisk and created a solid image of an Infernoid. "Huah!?" Zach was thrown to the ground by the hellish beast, and his cards fell out of his disk. "Eric! What the hell man!" Emily yelled as the situation unfolded. Their dismay grew even deeper more when Eric kneeled down to pick the two dragon cards. "I said I was sorry, Em. But I couldn't resist. The fusion guilds wants these.. and I am still a part of that."

(To be Continued in Annex 057: Cycle of Violence)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Secondonkey  
Dragon Pit Magician

-  
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon

-  
Last Minute Cancel

 **New Cards used by Meridian  
** Gemknight Garnet  
Crystal Rose

-  
Gemknight Ruby  
Gemknight Prismaura

-  
Brilliant Fusion

-  
Brilliant Spark  
Grisaille Prison


	57. Cycle of Violence

**Annex 057:** **Cycle of Violence**

"How did.. since when could you do that?" Certainly, Eric had acted in a terrifying way just now. It was not just that he attacked Zach, but how he attacked Zach. His Infernoid looked every bit as solid as one of the holograms made by the XYZ-guild. "I can't tell you that, Alice. I.. Ngh.." Eric seemed to be struggling to speak up. "Just.. trust me on this. I have to do this." In his hands were the fusion and synchro dragons which he put in his pocket. He got what he wanted, he had to get out now. "I can't let you do that!" But it was Cassius, of all people, who got the jump on Eric. "Gah!" Eric was not expecting such agility from a man who had been bedridden this morning. "Get off!" Eric pulled himself free from Cassius' grip off and pushed a button on his dueldisk. "Just, do not get in my way. I do not want to hurt any of you!" The disk put up a barrier between him and them to make sure nobody could stop him again. "This will fade in a couple of minutes. I just need to be away from you. Really, I am sorry.. I..argh.. I have to go!"

"Eric! Eric!" Emily screamed his name as he ran off. He was going back to the theater, to the fight. "Damn it! What the hell is going on?" She cursed and slammed her hand against the forcefield. Of course it did not budge. "Emily, that is not going to help." Her mother tried to calm her down. "I know that. I am just.. what is he thinking?" She could not believe what just transpired before her eyes; Eric had betrayed them for his guild. "There must be a reason." Alice had seen the same thing. But she could not accept that it was as simple as that. "Perhaps. The guild may have leverage over him."Cassius got back up, and dusted off his clothes "If they have gone as far as to create their own solid vision dueldisks, they are capable of anything." He groaned. "You shouldn't have tried to stop him, Aaron. What if you hurt yourself more?" Emily said scoldingly. "I did what I had to. You should check with Zach first, he took quite a hit. Besides.." Cassius took something out of his sleeve. "If I hadn't intervened. I wouldn't have been able to get this." It was Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. He had secured one of the two at least.

...

Meridians LP: 6600 Uno's LP: 850

Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon(4/2500/2000) had returned. "..." Last time this card fought against Uno, now it was his ally. Briefly, he felt some odd discomfort after its summoning. Its cries were loud, almost painfully deafening. It sounded like several dragons were roaring at the same time, and one of those dragons was Odd-Eyes. Eventually he adapted to the noise. "If you want this card, Meridian, you should also find out what it can do in a duel." Uno detached both his Performapal XYZ-materials from the dragon. "Dark Rebellion can take half a monsters attackpoints and give it to himself!" Electric bolts shot out of the dragons wings and caught the second Gemknight Lady Brilliant Diamond(10/3400/2000) in a web of lightning. Half her(1700/2000) energy was drained away by the XYZ Dragon(4200/2000). "Now, here is its attack!" The dragon lifted off from the ground and came barreling towards the weakened GemLady like a supercharged meteor. Dark Rebellions jaws punctured her diamond body and turned her to dust. She might as well have been made from glass.

Meridians LP: 4100

"You imbecile! Have you forgotten that I have this trap?" Meridian countered his monsters destruction with Brilliant Spark, to inflict damage equal to the Lady's original attackpoints. "I would have to be an imbecile to forget that!" Uno countered the counter, he activated Performapal Raingoat from his hand. "Good thing I'm not. U can negate that damage!" The invisible performapal shielded Uno from the sparks with his raincoat body. "Another repeat of the last time? Curse you! When did you even acquire that card?" Meridian did not think Uno even had this much left in his hand. "Now you are being forgetful, or just too mad to pay attention. I added it to my hand when I summoned Performapal Secondonkey. If I summon him when I control two pendulum cards, instead of sending a Performapal to the graveyard I can add it to my hand."

Now Uno had two cards left. One he placed face-down in the spell/trap zone. "Dragon Pit Magician activates his pendulum effect! He destroys one spell or trap card, after he sends a Pendulum monster from my hand to the grave!" The other, Performapal Cheermole, was discarded. "The card I will destroy is Brilliant Fusion!" The Dragon mage tore the continuous spell in half with a blast from his staff. "Aaagh!" Meridian had summoned the first Brilliant Diamond(10/3400/2000) with that spell. Without it, she could not live. Her diamond body broke down as well. "This is not fair! You would have died without that XYZ-monster! That card does not belong to you!" Meridian had reached the peak of his fury, his hands were shaking. "Grr. No! I shall not sabotage myself with this..anger. I am above that." He had to take several deep breaths to let it all out "That dragon does not decide the duel by itself.. It is my turn."

"I activate the effect of Crystal Rose." One of the Gemknight Ladies was banished from his graveyard as a cost for the resummoning of the deceased Crystal Rose(2/500/500). "I have decided to end this the way it should have ended many weeks ago." Crystal Rose's second effect sent Gemknight Lapis into the graveyard. Now the rose took on a gold/blue-ish tone. "And I activate Particle Fusion! I can fuse two Gemknights together; Lapis and Garnet! Particle Fusion adds one of those materials attackpoints to the fused monster!" The rose melded with the red gem-warrior(4/1900/0). The latter transferred its attackpoints, the former served as the key fusion material. "I will create Gemknight Lady Lapis Lazuli!" The maiden(5/2400/2000) of the ocean blue stone returned to duel against Uno. Her(4300/2000) attackpoints were boosted by those of Garnet, making her strong enough to overpower Dark Rebellion. Yet a fight was not what Meridian was looking for. "There are three special summoned monsters on the field." He still controlled his other fusion monster, Gemknight Topaz(6/1800/1800). "I activate her effect!" By sending a Gemknight from his main or extra deck to the graveyard, Lapis Lazuli would inflict 500 points of damage for each of those special summoned monsters.

"Trap card, Misdirection Wing!" Uno's only option was to shut down the effect altogether. "Misdirection Wing negates the effects of Lapis Lazuli and gives 800 attackpoints to my monsters!" Dark Rebellions wings were blanketed with a ghostly glow. "Bah!" In the light of this glow, the Blue Gemlady could not finish her damaging effect or confront the XYZ-dragon(5000/2000) in close combat. "In spite of everything, fortune keeps smiling on you. Even Dame Phoebe finds you more interesting then someone like me. Why.." Meridian went through the Gemknight Fusion and Brilliant Spark sequence again. He banished Gemknight Garnet from his graveyard, he took back the fusion spell and he discarded that to retrieve the Brilliant Spark trap that he set down on his field. "Why are you so special?" Meridians turn ended. Dark Rebellion(4200/2000)'s attackpoints went back to what they were before.

"You're asking the wrong person, Meridian. I barely remember a thing from my past even now. I am all out of clues." Uno could take his turn. He could banish Misdirection Wing from his graveyard to power his monsters up again. However, unless he took care of Brilliant Spark, he was not going to get a turn after that. If he could draw a pendulum monster, Dragonpit Magician could destroy the set trap. "Or.." What he drew had even more use; another gift from the cardmaker. "Meridian. I have people that need me, people that I want to be with. Time is up, I am bringing down the curtain on this show!" The drawn card was played. "Spell card, Pendulum Overlay! I can take one or more monster in my pendulum zones, and attach them to an XYZ-monster on the field!" A destructive portal opened, it moved between the light pillars that emanated from the pendulum zone. The overlay gate claimed the lives of Dragonpit Magician and Stargazer Magician and attached them to Dark Rebellion as XYZ-materials. "You didn't!" Meridian would suffer its effect all over again. He would lose all his lifepoints before Brilliant Spark could retaliate.

 _Pendulum Overlay, Normal Spell_  
 _You can only use 1 effect of "Pendulum Overlay" per turn, and only once that turn._  
 _1) Xyz summon 1 Xyz Monster from your extra deck, using the appropriate pendulum monster(s) in your pendulum zones as Materials.  
2) You can target 1 Xyz Monster you control; attach 1 or more pendulum monster(s) in your pendulum zones to the target as Xyz Materials._

"I did..argh." But it was not just he who suffered. _"Urgh, what?"_ Uno felt as if a stray lightningbolt had hit his chest. _"My pendant?"_ Uno reached for his neck. _"Why does it hurt?"_ It couldn't have been the spell card that Dom gave him, could it? No, the pendant was giving off light; reacting to something or someone. _"Is it them? Is it Neter? No.. "_ The cries were coming back too. Meridian did not seem to hear them. _"Are they all in my head? Odd-Eyes, are you doing this?"_ That sound was definitely the sound his own dragon always made. Dark Rebellion was starting to go wild as well. "What is with this performance? I already lost, just end it!" Meridian was getting freaked out. "It is not me doing this, Meridian." Uno did not give any orders or push any buttons. Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon now acted on its own accord. It detached both its new materials to absorb half of Lapis Lazuli's attackpoints. She(2150/2000) gave it all to the XYZ-dragon(6350/2000). " _What_ are you!?" Meridian stammered while Uno's monster entered the battle phas. It attacked directly. "Graaaahhh!" The dragon slammed into Meridian with all of its weight and sent him flying ten feet away into the tunnels.

Meridians LP: 0

"Meridian!" Uno gasped. _"It happened again! The monsters are real!"_ The mayhem was not over just because the duel was. Dark Rebellion did not disappear, it screamed and trashed about. _"This is nuts! It's like its angry, like it is alive!... Were the Sisters right?"_ Uno had no control over anything, not over what was going on now and not over what happened next. "Ah!" The monsters hologram lost its shape. The energy that held it together flowed out, rapidly. "Stop!" The entire tunnel network was swallowed by the radiant explosion and Uno was caught at the center of it. "Gaaahhh!" A crack formed on his pendant. He covered his eyes, he felt nothing anymore.

The blast was so great that it could be heard all the way at the helipad. "Good lord." Zach was hoping that the people that used the tunnel network had reached the parking lot by now. That sound probably had nothing to do with them and everything to do with.. "Uno!" Right away Alice sprinted back towards the tunnel door. "Alice, wait! You don't know what's happening down there!" Her mother cried after her. "So? There's still time left! I.. we can't leave without finding out!" She didn't listen and kept on moving. "Damn it. She's right.. Mom, I'll go with her!" Emily chased after her to ensure her sisters safety. Whether that explosion was a good or a bad thing, Emily could not walk away without finding out. And if Uno was hurt, they had to help him. "Alice.. Emily." Heather stayed behind, perplexed.

...

Roma's LP: 6500 Adamants LP: 5000 Unknowns LP: 0 Unknowns LP: 4000

Back at the theater, the drawn out nature of the dueling was getting to the XYZ-guild. Many of their numbers had been deprived of their cards, knocked unconscious or been forced to withdraw. Roma himself was now forced into battle as he and Adamant moved to the skybox to secure a new foothold. With his Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus(12/3600/3200) and Adamants Raidraptor - Blaze Falcon(5/1000/2000), he could fend off most duelists. This very moment their combined firepower laid waste to one of them. Yet the enemies kept coming. "Who are these people? What do they fight for?" Adamant could not explain this. The fusion guild alone could not have had that many members. Yet they were forcing them to a standstill, vying for equal sides of the arena. The people they sent in did not talk, gave no name and wore no symbol. They just kept coming. As soon as they were defeated, they just slipped into unconsciousness. ". "You under-estimated them, Roma. The other guilds are just as determined to get the power as we are. Dueling like this will give us no progress. Why are we still here?" Even the Synchro guild had fallen back by now.

"Tch." Roma checked his dueldisk. "Still no report from Ichirou. Something has gone wrong on his end. He would have broken Dom by now." The only reason Roma was here, was to get that information out of Doms head before the outside world could be alerted to what they were doing. This siege was never supposed to last this long or get this out of hand. "It all went wrong from the beginning when Cassius escaped. You should gotten more members from the guild." Adamant growled. "Do not question me!" The commander spat back. "It will work out, if we can eliminate the other guildleader.. Where is that cowardly girl?"

Dame Phoebe was out of their sight, she stood in a garden in front of the theater building where it was safe. Because the fight intensified, the XYZ-guild had to clear out from the surrounding areas and concentrate on the theater. "Ah there you are." It was also easy for Eric to make his way back to her as quickly as his body allowed it. "Phoebe.. I.." He caught his breath first. Then he gave her the good news. "I did it. I did what you wanted me to do. I got the keys. They were inside these cards." He said excitedly. "Yes we know." Phoebe met his enthusiasm with a desirous smile. "You do? How did you know ..come to think of it, how did Meridian know?" All the guild had told Eric was that he had to join Zach and help him save Dom and then stick around until Dom told them where the data was hidden. Eric had not actually gotten the chance to submit his findings to Phoebe. "Let's just say we have been watching you closely, Eric. With a little bug of our own." The guildleader happily explained. "It serves Dreamworld right for trying to turn you into a spy. Heheh."

"What? Eh.. I guess that's.." Eric was oddly okay with what he heard. "Enough about that. Show us the cards." Phoebe impatiently extended her left hand. "Yes, miss.. uhm." As Eric fumbled in his pockets to get the cards out, his expression slowly lost its joy. "Uh oh. That can't be right." He pulled out one card, and just one. "Where.. is the other?" Phoebe knew that there was supposed to be a synchro monster too. This was just a fusion card. "I don't know, honest! I couldn't have dropped it.." Eric rechecked every pocket in his coat. This would never have happened with his old jacket. "You're telling me that you lost it?" The girls left eye twitched. "Because of you that card could be anywhere out there.. you.." She raised her hand, clenching it like a claw. "You sweetie-pie." Her frustration snapped away, at the drop of a hat. Dame Phoebe gave him a simple warm grin and pushed her left hand down with her right. "You got _one_ for us. That is plenty. Since Meridian messed his duel up, we would have to wait anyway. At least this fits our guild." She snatched the card from Erics hand. "Starve Venom Fusion Dragon. It's so adorable."

"Dame.." Their little get-together was interrupted by the hooded figure. "Huh? Who's that?" Eric could not see his face. He had never seen anyone dressed like that before either. "Oh. You two have not been acquainted yet. Inexcusable. Eric, this is our secret weapon.. his name is Martel. Martel, this is Eric. our newest member." The hooded kid just stared at Eric with unseen eyes. "Company..." That was all the time he gave Stonewell before his attention turned back to Dame Phoebe. "My 'friends' are claiming more and more. Ones they exterminated are getting up again. Should they use the 'solution'? It would.. make things permanent." Martel seemed to mind his words around Eric, because Eric sure as hell had no idea what he was saying. "No, not yet. Not if we do not have all three dragons. However.. with the way things are going. We may be able to bring down the leaders of the XYZ-guild. That would make us happy." Dame Phoebe was pretty pleased. However their good spirits would not last them.

"The hell was that?" A loud undefinable noise reverberated across the park. There was no known duel monster or effect that could produce such racket. "That's the second time.." It was the sound Dame heard down below, when Uno's duel with Meridian ended. Though they did not know the source of that outburst, they could tell this one came from inside the building. "... Dangerous." Even Martel seemed offput by this development. "I have to see this." Now Eric was definitely intrigued. His curiosity got the better of his newfound loyalty to the guild and he raced towards the battle zone. It was easy to find out what caused the commotion once he saw the ring. "...No way! It's her!" And old enemy had shown up, and she brought friends this time, familiar friends.

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing, wether they were dueling or standing around. They witnessed a miracle. Four people walked out of unseen voids, that was the best way to describe their entrance. "This seems to be a good enough time. They're all fighting each other for some reason.." Said the woman who called herself June. "Right place too. I told you a lot of fun goes down here if you take it slowly." Neter, the young one, had a good laugh. "The leaders are all here right? If one of them got away..." August still seemed to be as furious as he had been weeks ago. "Well, one of them apparently did. But we already checked that guild, and they had nothing. There's still that Dom, someone else I am forgetting and that guy." June pointed up at the center stage. "They look busy." Neter pointed out. "That wont stop us." August smirked.

"It wont." At last their fourth member spoke. He appeared to be dressed like a nomad, with long black hair flowing from the back of his head like a lions mane. His eyes, which were a burning gold, gazed at the two duelists above. "Leader of the XYZ-guild! We have questions for you!" His voice was sharp, clear and inhumanly steady. "You took the words out of my mouth! Who are you and why do you seek an audience with me?" Roma was the one who responded to the call, brushing Adamant aside. He was the leader now. "If you need a name, address me as December. If you are of use to us, you already know why we are here. We seek a man not from your world, we seek Tempus."

(To be Continued in Annex 058: The Rewritten Chapter)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** _Pendulum Overlay_

 **New Cards used by Meridian  
** Particle Fusion


	58. The Rewritten Chapter

**Annex 058: The Rewritten Chapter**

The first thing he realized, when his eyes opened, was that this had been his first bout of unconsciousness since his return to his friends. The second realization was the memory of his own name. "Uno.." Third, and presently also probably the most crucial detail, was the fact that he had no idea where he was _. "Did I get moved... again?"_ Someone could have relocated him while he'd been sleeping. Except this did not look like a place he would be moved too. There was not a soul to be found. _"Oh, Uno, did you travel that way again?"_ If it was as bad as he thought, than he could be in a completely different time period. This did not feel he switched times though, more like he switched surroundings. He could feel wooden walls around him, the passage was narrower and the floor creaked. 'Here' was not any part of Doms tunnel network. _"Wherever this is, it isn't pretty.."_ His first instinct made him reach for his pendant. "!" His hand slapped against his chest. "No." The pendulum was not there, he couldn't go anywhere without it. _"_ No! I'm stuck here! Where _is_ here? Hello! Hello, can anyone hear me!?"

..,...,...,...

That was the world his mind occupied, far removed from anyone else. "Oh no!" And yet his body was right there for Alice and Emily to find. Uno was in the same place where they had left him, albeit he was now lying with his back on the tunnel floor. "Wait!" Emily saw Meridians body. He was still there too, not awake either. "Wh..why are they both.. who won?" The duel had definitely ended, according to their dueldisks. "I think Uno did...or else that guy would have run off." Emily saw a card on his disk blade; Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon included. It seemed unlikely that Uno had lost his duel. "Uno! Can you hear us?! You better get up, the whole place is collapsing and uh.. on fire!" Alice's shouting got no reaction. He was alive and completely unresponsive at the same time. "He's out of it. We're gonna have to carry him." Emily tried to lift Uno up. "What about him?" Alice pointed at Meridian. "We can't take them both. If he just got knocked out, he will get better." Emily had seen this before with Tanvir, these people never stayed down for long. "Now come on. We have to get back quickly, we cant keep the others waiting." She could not drag Uno by herself that well. "Okay." Alice took Uno's other arm. And not a second too soon.

"Em, did you hear that?" A loud rumbling came from above ground. "Yeah, I felt it too!" The entire tunnel shook and dust fell from the ceiling. "We really gotta scram now!" Emily was not going to stick around and find out what caused a sound like that.

...

"Sir! It's them!" Iria shouted. The arrival of the four mysterious travelers was caught on the screen in Doms office. "They were part of the same group, just as we suspected. There is a fourth member now." Their facial recognition software failed to identifty the previous three duelists, so she did not bother with this new guy. "Well. That's perfect timing. Let's see how this develops." Dom just kicked back in his own chair, since it seemed like they weren't coming after him yet. There was little he could do about in his current state anyway. "Funny, they're still wearing the same clothes. Somebody should get those people a tailor."  
...

"Oh? You are the leader now? According to our information, that man should be the leader." Down at the actual theater. June and the others responded to Roma's assertion with mild surprise. "I suppose a lot can happen in a day. Well done with your promotion, Roma." She seemed genuinely happy for him. "You will forgive me, if I do not take such praise at face value. And who is this Tempus person I am supposed to know?" Roma did not know what to make of their request, or the rest of their actions. "You don't? Tch, we're wasting our hours with you then! I guess the previous leader did not share everything with you!" August let out a guttural chuckle. "I know everything that he knows, and more!" Agitated now, Roma corrected the man. He would not stand around and be insulted. "Well, what do they think?" Neter asked June, who had been looking intently at both XYZ-duelists. "On the surface, not much. There's a lot of confusion.. They're both hiding a lot though, and they are stubborn about sharing it."

"Not from us." December took out a set of cards. "You want to challenge us? We were already engaged with other opponents!" Roma had many objections. On the other hand the seemingly mindless opponents of Roma raised none of their own. "You were having a battle for everyone." December did not see the problem. This was a battle royal; anyone could freely join in on already running duels, no matter whose turn it was. "That also counts for us! Commander Roma, we will defend you!" As December walked towards the skybox, the nearest four XYZ-duelists rushed to intercept him. However they themselves were intercepted. "You do not have the right!" August took one two of them at once. "Yeah, come have some fun with us first!" Neter and June held up each of the remaining pair. They grabbed their cards and revealed their dueldisks. "What the.." The models were different from the ones each of them used the last time they were spotted. "You will find us equally worthy." June carried a crescent-shaped disk version with an ocean-green color. August had a rounded monochrome single-blade disk. Neter wielded a red disk that looked more like a Pad of sorts. And December had the most basic looking model of them all, a sharp curved dueldisk.

Decembers LP: 8000 Roma's LP: 7000 Adamants LP: 5000 Unknowns LP: 4000

"What are those?" Half the models did not look remotely familiar to anyone in the guild. And still, somehow, the disks could connect to their network. "Our dueldisks." December stated bluntly. Nobody was going to get in the way now, so he started drawing. It was his turn. "I make my spell; Dark Contract with the Gate." December activated a continuous spell, which raised a hellish doorway from the cracks of the stadium floor. "Dark Contract?" As the guildleader, Roma was supposed to know about every card. Hdidn;t recognize this one. "These people can use cards that we have not heard of." Adamant hadn't seen it for himself, but he assumed the scarred dragon that August summoned against Zach and Uno was of a similar origin. "If you seek understanding, hear this. Dark Contract with the Gate allows the player, me, to add a Dark Dimension monster from my deck to my hand, once per turn." The monster December claimed was another unknown; a D/D/D Conquest King Kaiser card.

"Dark Dimension? Well that is different from... the different dimension." D/D was not D.D. This was a big surprise for Dom, for reasons Iria could imagine. "These cards were not on any roster, were they?" Even the Odd-Eyes dragons and the Magicians, as unexpected as they were, had been part of the other UNO's lists in some way. "Not unless I turned nearsighted." Dom rubbed the front of his mask. His eyes did not lie. "I wish someone would tell me why the network knows those things are cards, despite the fact that Dreamworld never made them." And then it hit the master like cold water in the face. " Is _that_ why everyone wants access?" If these cards were part of the network, who knew what else could be? As for these cards Dom was in luck, depending on you viewed it. For he and the rest of the stadium were about to find out exactly what the Dark Dimension was capable of. "Sir! He is.." Iria spotted a move she herself was accustomed too now; placing a card at both ends of the dueldisk. "I see it." December was using pendulum zones.

"Pendulum monsters?" Roma gasped as his newest opponent placed a card in the left and right pendulum zone. "Yes, your kind already encountered this power type. That is new. My pendulums; scale 4 D/D/D Doomking Armageddon and scale 8 D/D Proud Ogre." Two massive pillars of energy rose high up into the skies and pierced the clouds. A pendulum-bodied and masked demon hovered in the left zone, while the right zone held an axe-wielding ogre in black armor. "Ugh.." The emanating raw power literally pushed against the opposing duelists. Uno and Iria's pendulum summons had never been this forceful. "The path is yours; D/D/D Conquest King Kaiser." December did not just have one of those cards in his hand, he had two. "PENDULUM.. SUMMON!" Their descent was shouted across the whole theater. Two redcaped emperors(7/2800/2100) slammed down like a massive boulder, making the entire ring tremble. Their pendulum summoning awakened their full effects. "Kaiser negate the effects of all cards my enemies currently control." The ConquestLord placed a negating aura over the three duelists that stood against December. All of their cards were sealed..

All besides the Quantal King Magnus(12/3600/3200). "So there was another who learned that technique. How disappointing that that is all you raise against me. It wont even land a scratch on my XYZ-monster." As long as he had his Super Mech with all of its XYZ-materials, Roma did not have to fear anything. "This will not be a scratch." December moved his hands to the left and right pendulum zones. "You're in your magic state, D/D Proud Ogre. Take 500 of my lifepoints and grant them to the King as strength. Likewise, King of Armageddon, add 800 attackpoints to Kaiser." Both pendulum monsters placed their powerboosts on the same D/D/D Kaiser(4100/2100). "My monster, the great Kaiser, has one more talent. By shattering up to two of my spells or traps, he adds that many strikes to his next battle. I shall destroy all my spells." The Pendulum monsters in the pendulum zone counted as spells, so one Kaiser could destroy them both to gain an additional pair of attacks for the bext battle phase. The second unboosted Conquest Lord destroyed the Gate Dark Contract and a spell card that December set down just now, to triple his offensive capabilities.

Decembers LP: 7500

"Then now it is my turn to teach you about power, December! Everything you build is worthless if I can just blow it away with the snap of my fingers!" Roma detached one material from the Great King Magnus. "I target the first Kaiser, and send him back to your deck!" The effect that his Quantal XYZ-machine used to push monsters off the field worked during all players turns, not just Roma's own. The holographic barriers unleashed wind-like pressure upon the field. "One act can accomplish greatness, greatness can be undone with one act." December activated a card from his graveyard. "I reawaken my spell, D/D Reject." The violent winds were dispelled by an even stronger force. D/D Reject prevented Roma's cards from affecting the Conquest King. "You see your XYZ-monster as a great power. You do not _know_ power." December continued the battle phase. "Like all before him, Great King Magnus will fall." The strengthened Kaiser crushed the super-combiner Mech King with a single slash of its blade.

Roma's LP: 6900

 _D/D Reject, Quickplay Spell  
_ _Target 1 "D/D" card om the field; this turn that monster is not affected by your opponents card effects.  
_ _You can banish this card from your Graveyard, then target 1 pendulum summoned "D/D" monster card om the field; this turn that monster is not affected by your opponents card effects._

"Urgh.." The shockwaves that resulted from this one exchange of fighters were intense. "How.." Adamant could sense it in his bones; a pain that none of their solidified monsters had ever made them experience. "It is not over yet!" Roma continued to defy this seemingly almighty opponent. "When Quantal Great Magnus is destroyed, he can summon three different Quantal XYZ-monsters from the graveyard!" The destroyed Mech King split up into its original components; Mech Beast Grampulse(3/1800/2800), Mech Beast Aeroboros(4/2200/2400) and Mech Beast Magnaliger(5/2600/2000). Each part was summoned in defense mode. "..." December observed this move and shook his head. He did not see the need to comment on Roma's lack of vision. The duel was over just the same. "Destroy them all." The second unpowered Conquest King slayed Quanta Beast Magnaliger and Aeroboros. The powered up Conquest King used his second attack to destroy Grampulse. "Wait..." Only now did it dawn on Roma. "You will follow.." Both D/D/D Kaisers saved their last attack for the XYZ-duelist. Their swords carved the spot he stood on.

Roma's LP: 0

"Gah!" Roma looked at his own hand. Blood trickled down a small cut on his finger. "That was..that was real?" The detail, the pressure, the realism; these holograms surpassed any other. They weren't even holograms. "My men!" These duelists surpassed his too. The four that had come to defend Roma had all been dispatched in the time it took December to take the guildleader down. Their dueldisks were shut down, their entire energy reserves depleted. June, August and Neter were standing victoriously among the beaten. "Where did you get such power? Are you one of them, the other side?" He had to know, he needed to know. "The other side? You do not know who or what we are? June, what can this man even tell us? His mind should be weak enough now." August asked their female companion. "He has us confused for someone else. He has heard about other worlds, yet he does not see them as we do. I'd need more time to get a clear picture, his thoughts are all over the place."

"But does he know Tempus?" December modified August question. June waited a moment to give her answer. "No. I sense no acquaintance.. in either of them." She had kept her eyes on both Roma and Adamant. "Then he is not the one." December dismissed his monsters, he had no interest in continuing the duel. "You can..read our minds?" That was the only conclusion Adamant could make from the scenes that bunfolded before him. "That does not surprise you. Ah, you have already accepted the fact that such powers can exist." June seemed to prove his theory just be plucking one of Adamants latest ponderings from his brooding head. "...What is Tempus?" The former champion dared to return the questioning to them, which was met with a giggle from the apparently psychic woman. "You really are not afraid of us? That's admirable." She spoke with an amused tone. The same could not be said for August. "You can not give us anything we do not already have. And none of what you got going on here is going to matter if we do not find what we do not have! So stay out of our way!" He practically roared.

Unknowns LP: 0

"...ah." Just then the woman that Roma and Adamant had been dueling before the four came in, fell down. "Huh?" She had placed her hand on her deck and conceded the game. Now this person lied there, comatose. "Geez August, way to scare the lady." Neter chuckled. "That was not me." He grumbled. He was right though. Every other silent duelist went down in similar circumstances. The nameless people that Martel had sent in were all giving up their fight. "This is strange. I did not detect any thoughts from them before." June inspected the sleeping woman. "Now there is activity again." Her eyes scanned the entire theater. As she did so, Adamant noticed a faint symbol glowing underneath her hair. "Someone else did this. They're no longer here. But.." Her gaze traveled the distance, reaching all the way to the other side of the ring where Eric stood. "Aaah!" Stonewell flinched, somehow he had been noticed. "There we go. I know where the other guildleaders are." June smiled. "January, shall we go?" She extended her hand so that Neter could take it. "Just think the word." He and June did their vanishing act as soon as they touched each other.

"Stealth technology he said.. Those two just teleported." Roma had seen amazing things, horrifying things. "I do not care what you claim to be. If you have that kind of power, you are a threat to us! XYZ-guild, attack them, now!" He ordered every available duelists to concentrate their monsters on August and December. "Ha! They are really begging for it, December!" August was awfully happy about the opponents heading his way. "These are not the pieces." December reshuffled his deck and reactivated his dueldisk along with August. They would dispose of them in short order, as they had business elsewhere.

...

"Hello." June said cheerfully as she and Neter popped up in front of Dame Phoebe in the outer hallway of the theater. "...Hello?" Phoebe was startled, but not terribly so. "Huh. Normally they at least scream a little. That's always the fun part.." Neter let out sigh of disappointment. "Screams? Heheh, that's what I look for in a duelist as well." Rather than getting scared, Phoebe was getting thrilled. "So you are the one they call June, I am happy that I finally get to see you. And your name was Neter, was it not?" Her other voice had some concerns at least, which she dealt with politely. "Neter?" June cast a glare down at her partner, who started whistling innocently. "You gave these people a name? I told you, _January,_ to only use the codenames." She berated him, which made him upset. "Hey! You're the one who made it obvious! June is June and August is August. It would look a little fishy if I called myself January. That's what I thought.. also arent you making it worse by talking out loud about it?" He chided her right back. "Well the secret is out now. There's no need to keep it in our heads." June brushed it off. "Am I.. interrupting something?" Dame Phoebe asked.

"Dame Phoebe!" Before the conversation could develop any further, Eric showed up to make it a fourway affair. "Watch out. They have weird powers!" He stopped in front of the guildleader, shielding her with his dueldisk. "Oh hey, it's you. I see you have found new friends." June greeted him kindly. But he had no kind words for her. "Yeah, you remember me. I remember you too! I had been hoping we'd see each other again!" He grabbed his deck to make his desires clear. "Hey June. This kid wants another go at you." Eric did not come off as intimidating as he had intended, Neter and June were more amused than anything. "Why does everyone keep calling me a kid? I'm pretty sure I am older than you!" He yelled. "Hhahaa! That's funny! You have no idea how much older we are!" The 'kid' burst out in laughter. "Shut up. You wont fpush me around so easily this time! I saw what you did to that XYZ-guy, you have to duel us first before you can mindprobe us!" He would gladly throw himself in their path if he could save Phoebe. Though he did not see a reason, he did not need it. "Oh I see." Dame Phoebe touched her lip with her finger. "You want information. Poor old Roma knew nothing, so you are going to try me next." She licked her finger. "I can roll with that." She brought out her dueldisk. "Stonewell. Let's have this dance together.. I shall help you live out your revenge."

(To be Continued in Annex 059: Think Again)

 **Cards used by December  
** D/D/D Doomking Armageddon  
D/D Proud Ogre  
D/D/D Conquest King Kaiser

-  
Dark Contract with the Gate  
 _D/D Reject_


	59. Think Again

**Annex 059: Think Again**

The helicopter was finally on its way to Dreamworld HQ. Doms amusement park was behind them and the city only half an hour away. "Are we there yet?" Pretty soon they would also reach a safe network provider for their disks and phones. "No." But despite Alice's interjections, they were not quite within range. "I will tell you when you can make a call." Zach tried to say it as gently as he could while he was concentrating on keeping them in the air. "Awww... We have to let dad hear from us.." The family had not spoken with him all day. "I'm sure he knows not to do anything hasty. He might not even realize that anything is wrong." Heather wanted to get in touch too, she just did not want to assume the worst. "Mom, if we call him we should ask about Erics mom. Maybe he could check if she is still at her house?." Emily suddenly said. "Check on Mrs Stonewell?"

"I'm worried they did something to her, the fusion Guild. I mean it was weird how Eric never brought her to the tournament, you know? She was always so proud of him. What if they're holding her hostage?" It was an image that did not let go, no matter how much Emily tried to reason it away. "I do not believe so. We brought Eric into this, but we also had daily talks with his mother about the well-being of her son. She called this morning as well. She did not sound 'compromised'." Zach explained, which was mildly comforting. "If that is true, and I hope it is.. Then what the hell is making Eric behave like this?"

...

"Two against Two? Well that's more fair..isn't it June?" Neter/January and June found a second opponent in Eric Stonewell. He came to the aid of Dame Phoebe who gladly accepted his involvement. "It wont make things much worse. It is settled; we will have ourselves a tagteam duel." The two would bet their lifepoints against the fusion guild duelists. This would bring their duel to a quicker end than if they challenged them one at a time. "Don't worry Phoebe. I know these guys tricks. They can't get away with it while I am around." Eric pointed his finger at the woman. "You should look out for her especially. She has some freaky mindpowers..." He had no concrete proof of this other than what he had seen But it was convincing and Eric had seen weirder things these last few days. "Mind tricks eh?" Phoebe grinned. "Then it is a good thing that we are of two minds!""I am afraid that I am your worst kind of opponent, miss June." She flipped back to her sugary tone of voice and started out her turn that way. "I'll begin.."

Team Phoebe's LP: 8000 Team January/June's LP: 8000

Every player drew their hand of five cards. "My turn should start with something cute." The girl normal summoned a Fluffal Dog(4/1700/1000). "Doggie, fetch me a kitty." With the effect of Fluffal Dog Phoebe could grab a new Fluffal, Fluffal Cat, from her deck. "Now let's put a smile on its face!" She then immediately shifted into her other persona and activated a spell from her hand. "Polymerization! Fluffal Cat and Edge Imp Sabres will combine!" The fairy-like purple cat was forcefully fused with the demon of scissors to fusion summon one of the toys of death. "Frightfur Bear!" The murderous bear(6/2200/1800) appeared on the field, its scissors and claws hungering for cards. "But do not forget Fluffal Cat's gift!" Phoebe's first voice briefly came back as she activated the effect of one of her fusion materials. "Now that she has been fused with something, she can give us Polymerization back." The Cat returned the fusion spell to the girls left hand. "And I will set this card face-down." A spell card was set. "I think we are done now""Yeah we are. Your turn, summer girl."

"So that's your deal. I was wondering what was up your clothes and hair. That is so cool!" Neter enjoyed watching that turn play out. June did as well, for different reasons. "That was a nice act. But nothing more.. I can see that you were thinking I'd fall for it. But I am not a fool." June took her turn and drew her sixth card. She activated the spell card Foolish Burial. "Are you? Haha." A move that amused Neter. "That was purely by accident." June rolled her eyes.

"Anyway. I am using this spell to send Spiritual Beast Cannahawk from my deck to the graveyard." The foolish spell buried the monster in the ground. Then June summoned a card from her hand; Ritual Beast Tamer Lara(1/100/2000) the young wind sorceress in green. "And this is why. Lara can revive one Ritual Beast when she is normal summoned." The Tamer channeled her magic into the graveyard, special summoning the electric bird Spiritual Beast Cannahawk(4/1400/600). "And Cannahawk can banish one Ritual Beast from my deck, face-up." The Hawk banished a Ritual Beast Apelio card. Two turns later, June would get the option to add that card to her hand even if Cannahawk was no longer on the field. "So... Here is my fusion monster." June banished her two monsters; Tamer and Beast, to merge them into an Ulti-Beast. "Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin, in defense mode." A younger tamer now rode a different animal, a pink dolphin(8/200/2800). "I remember that one. It's got protection against destroying effects." Eric felt like his last duel against June had only happened yesterday; the memories were that vivid.

"My turn!" Eric's turn followed June's. Unfortunately, his deck was the kind of deck that needed time to build up steam. Eric could not bring out any of the monsters he had in his hand yet. "Uh..I set three cards face down. Your turn.. Neter.. or January, whatever your real name is." At least nobody could attack on the first turn in a tagteam match. He wanted to do more, but he would have to wait. "Oh you can keep calling me Neter. Also, boy that must be embarrassing to draw so badly huh?" As soon as Neter drew a card in his drawphase, Eric sprung his trap; Needlebug Nest. "Ha, very funny.. and also dead wrong!" Needlebug Nest sent the top five cards from his deck to the graveyard, two trap cards and three Infernoids. "Ooh. He used Infernoids now. Scary scary.. Should I watch out for his other traps, June?" The kid turned to his partner for advice. "Not as far as we are concerned, January." She seemed to take her tips straight from Erics thoughts again. "Guh. Stop looking in my head! That's cheating!"

"We never said we would play fairly. You must be a kid if you think we'd follow the rules." Neter laughed. "Satellarknight Vega!" His first Knight was the maiden(4/1200/1600) of the summer triangle stars. Another Satellarknight could be special summoned from Neters hand thanks to her effect. "Satellarknight Unukalhai! If this card is summoned, kick one Satellarknight from the deck!" His second Knight was the dark warrior(4/1800/1000) from the serpents constellation. Unukalhai's effect sent one of the Satellarknight Denebs in Neters deck to the grave. "Okay, Unukalhai, you did your job. Time to jump the Stellarknight Skybridge!" Neter activated his quickplay spell to switch one Tellarknight on the field with one in the deck. The serpentine knight returned and the winged Satellarknight Altair(4/1700/1300) was special summoned. "You know what it does, right? You saw my game with your friend." Altair revived a dead Satellarknight when summoned. The discarded Satellarknight Deneb(4/1500/1000) was brought back to the field, thus completing the summer triangle. "Gimme another Altair." First though, Neter activated Denebs effect to claim another Satellarknight from his deck. "And nooooowww... I get to do my special move! Overlay and XYZ-summon!" Altair, Deneb and Vega combined into one rank 4 XYZ-monster, Stellarknight Delteros(4/2500/2100).

"Oh yeah?" There it was, the XYZ-monster that Uno had fought. Its effect was dangerous and Eric had every intention of blocking it with one of his traps. "Wait, Stonewell." But even his strongest desire could be smothered by a word from Phoebe. "Do not use your trap yet." As they were on the same team, Phoebe could see the cards Eric had set and the moves he would make with them. "But.." So why did she not allow him? "Save it." Phoebe told him again, sternly this time. "Heh? Are you gonna do something? No? Okey-dokey!" Neter got his chance after all. He detached one material from Delteros. "Destroy the Bear!" The stellarknight fired a beam of destruction from his shield and blew the Frightfur Bear to pieces. Afterwards Neter placed a card in the spell/trap zone and ended his turn. Eric just did not understand. "Why didn't you let me protect your monster?"

"It was better off dead." The fifth turn came, and Phoebe's battle phase came with it. She would get a new fusion monster for that. "I set one card." With the right hand a trap was placed face-down. Then the left hand and the left half took over for the rest of the turn. "Polymerization!" With her recycled fusion spell, she fused Fluffal Dog on the field with a monster in her hand. It was not Edge Imp Sabres for once. "One Fluffal and one Edge Imp Chain! Together they can make Frightfur Sheep!" A demon made from chains and gears was embedded in the fluffy body of the dog. Its shape and color twisted into that of a monstrous golden sheep(6/2000/2000) who was suspended in the air on revolving chains. "Stonewell, now you get to see what I would have done to you to win that duel!" The fusion guildleader dug her fingers into her deck to pull out one specific spell card. "When Edge Imp Chain is sent to the graveyard, it will give us any FrightFur card. And I choose Frightfur Fusion!"

"That card?" Before now, Eric only was aware of its name. From now on, he would remember its terrifying power. "Frightfur Fusion can banish the materials for a Frightfur monster from the field _and_ graveyard to fusion summon a Frightfur monster!" She activated the spell to banish up to three monsters; Edge Imp Sabres, Fluffal Cat and Fluffal Dog. "Come out, come out wherever you are! It's time to play with Frightfur Tiger!" The scissordemon cut up the remnants of the cat and dog toys to change them into the Tiger-toy of death(6/1900/1200). The first of its powers added attackpoints to all Frightfur monsters like itself(6/2500/1200) and Frightfur Sheep(6/2600/2000); 300 for each Fluffal or Frightfur monster on the field. But that was just a little extra spice. The real terror would come from the Tigers second effect. "If you want to help me, you can do it now, Eric Stonewell." Frightfur Tiger would destroy cards equal to the number of its fusion materials. Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin normally could not be one of those monsters due to its destruction immunity. "You can count on me!" So that is why Eric had to wait until now, to activate the trap Needlebug Nest had sent to the graveyard. "I banish Breakthrough Skill from my graveyard to negate your fusion monsters effects, June!"

"Oh in that case. Don't mind if I.." Before Breakthrough Skill could resolve, June chained with her own monsters effect. "Split things up." Ulti-Pettlephin defused, summoning the banished Ritual Beast Tamer Lara and Ritual Beast Cannahawk back from the banished zone. "As I expected." Now Frightfur Tiger could choose whatever target it pleased. "Rip them to shreds, darling." The monsters scissors cut through June's Ritual Beasts and through Neter's Stellarknight Delteros with its destruction effect. "That's not so bad! Because I get to do this!" Delteros' destruction triggered its final power to special summon a Satellarknight from the deck. Neter placed a second Stellarknight Vega(4/1200/1600) on his field. "Weeeee! Here we go again!" Now that she was summoned, Vega could special summon the Satallerknight Altair in Neters hand and this Altair(4/1700/1300) could subsequently special summon Satellarknight Deneb from the graveyard. All were summoned in defense mode, naturally. The next effect spoke for itself as well. "I want.. another Altair!" Deneb's effect seized the last of the Altair cards and gave it to his master.

"Heheh. You should already know that it's gonna take more than a few meatshields to save your own skin!" Phoebe entered the battle phase. "Tear, slash, grind!" Frightfur Sheep used its chainsaw limbs to turn Satellarknight Vega to a starry pulp. Frightfur Tiger swept his claws through the body of Satellarknight Altair. "And then..!" She activated her set card, Defusion. "Stonewell, you know what I want." Defusion targeted Frightfur Tiger, despite the fact that its three fusion materials were banished right now. "Oh, yeah!" So Eric activated his own set quickplay spell. "Burial from another Dimension! I unbanish three cards!" Fluffal Cat, Dog and Edge Imp Sabres were returned to the graveyard, just in time for Defusion to summon them to the field. "Deliciously done." The battle phase continued. Edge Imp Sabers(4/1200/800) sliced Satellarknight Deneb with its scissors. Fluffal Cat(1/700/300) attacked June directly, while Fluffal Dog hit Neter. With a shared lifepoint pool, distributing attacks served no actual purpose. Phoebe just wanted to spread the pain equally. "That satisfies me for now."

Team June's LP: 6000

"Hey, June. Looks like this guild figured the solid hologram trick too." Neters coat had been cut by the attack. Even this he just laughed off. "June?" But now something unusual happened, June had no immediate comebacks. "What is the matter? Heheh.. can't you _see_ me?" Phoebe could recognize an expression of doubt no matter what face it was framed on. "I did not account for this.." June did not need to ask how it began, she could read that part of Phoebe's mind. The rest was what confused her. "You set that card, yet you made yourself forget what it was.. because you did not actually set it?" That was the read she got from Phoebe's current thoughts. "Whaaaat? You mean she really is two people?" Neter was astonished. So was Eric. "What?!" Eric did wonder why Phoebe did not revert to her fluffier character once her fusion monster left the field. The guild always said her double act was just a performance for the sake of the audience. It actually carried benefits now. "Heheh. I may not know how you can read minds, but I see you have your limits. You can't read a mind that is not awake."

"The truth will come out eventually, Dame Phoebe. All minds open up at the end of the duel." June summoned a monster, a new younger tamer(3/1500/1000). "Ritual Beast Tamer Wen. I summon her so she can special summon a Spiritual Beast that was banished." The tamer girl waved her wand once and opened a portal to the banished zone. The fiery lion Spiritual Beast Apelio(4/1800/200) leaped out of the other dimension. "Apelio banishes one Ritual Beast from my graveyard to make the other Ritual Beasts stronger." The lion sent his flames into the graveyard and burned up Spiritual Beast Cannahawk. The flames returned and covered it(2300/200) and Tamer Wen(2000/1000). "They will take your Fluffal Cat and Fluffal Dog!" The two fluffy monsters were burned and cut down by Apelio's flame attacks and the Tamers wind spells. "Then I activate Ritual Beast Bond to fuse my Ritual Beasts!" June revealed a quickplay spell that banished the Ritual Tamer and the Spiritual Beast; to create the third of the Ulti-Beasts; Ritual Beast Ulti-Apelio(6/3100/400). "His target is Edge Imp Sabers." The tamer/lion combo charged the scissor demon and pulverized it under its flaming claws. "Good.. you're not a coward without your power." Phoebe cackled. Her trap had not deterred any of June's attacks.

Team Phoebe's LP: 4000

"You.. You kept other things buried too, plans... connections.." This situation got weirder and weirder, June could not even figure out which aspect of Phoebe was real and which one was put on. "I gotta say, whatever you did to yourself it is very effective." June moved to her second main phase and made her Fusion monster split itself up. Ulti-Apelio returned to the extra deck and summoned the banished Cannahawk and Tamer Wen. "Still, if either of you knows anything about Tempus, than I will find it." Cannahawk activated its effect to banish a Ritual Beast Tamer Lara from the deck. "Ulti-Cannahawk this time." And the hawk banished itself along with Tamer Wen to fusion summon Ultimate CannaHawk(6/1900/1600) from the extra deck in defense mode. "Though..maybe you did it to someone besides yourself too."

"Huh?" Eric noticed her gaze fell on him. "Hey! What're you talking about?!" If she was going to pry into his thoughts again, the least she could do was say what she was looking at. "You were right when you said you had changed, but you do not realize how. Your mind has been altered, something has been implanted. I almost assumed that it was a common pursuit for duelists in your guild... Now I see that you yearn to understand." June continued on with her turn as if she had said nothing. She activated Ulti-Cannahawks effect, sending the banished Cannahawk and Tamer Lara back to the graveyard while adding a new Ritual Beast card from her deck to her hand. "Ritual Beast Ambush." She took a trap and placed that card face down. "Unfortunately, as I cannot special summon the same Ritual Beasts more than once a turn, this is where I will have to end my turn." Ulti-Cannahawk could not split up since Apelio had already been summoned. As the turn ended, it lost the powerboost from Apleio(1400/1600) as well.

"Phoebe. What is she saying? Did something happen to me?" This meant Eric was free to take his turn. Even though he had a few other questions on his mind. "She's trying to scramble your brains and confuse you, Stonewell. Don't play her game. Just do as I say and you will make it out with your sanity in one piece." Phoebe said with a grating tone. A tinge of apprehension came through, but Eric did not pick up on it. "Yeah. you're right! I am me, I am Eric Stonewell! I'll summon Infernoid Decatron!" Eric had finally drawn a monster he could summon, so he did. It was the tiny demon tuner(1/500/200). "Decatron sends an Infernoid from my deck to the graveyard to imitate its name and effects! Though I am not really about him as much as I am about who he's going to send!" Decatron sent Infernoid Onuncu into the graveyard. "This big beast right here! I special summon Infernoid Nehemoth from the graveyard!" He could revive Onuncu, or Nehemoth as he called it. The corpses of the three Infernoids discarded by the Needlebug Nest trap were the fuel for the infernal dragon(10/3000/3000). Once it was special summoned, all other monsters had to forfeit their lives. "Nobody is gonna make an idiot out of me!"

(To be Continued in Annex 060: Stitched Up Purple Heart)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Burial from a Different Dimension

-  
Breakthrough Skill

 **New Cards used by Dame Phoebe  
** Fluffal Cat  
Edge Imp Chain

-  
Frightfur Sheep

-  
Frightfur Fusion

 **New Cards used by June  
** Spiritual Beast Cannahawk  
Ritual Beast Tamer Wen

-  
Foolish Burial

 **New Cards used by Neter  
** Satellarknight Unukalhai


	60. Stitched Up Purple Heart

**Annex 060: Stitched Up Purple Heart**

Team June's LP: 6000 Team Phoebe's LP: 4000

"Infernoid Nehemoth! Destroy!" Eric made his big attack. Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk(6/1400/1600), Frightfur Sheep(6/2000/2000) and Infernoid Decatron(1/500/200) were all wiped away from the halls by the power of the infernal Onuncu dragon(10/3000/3000). Some deaths were permanent. Some were not. "Rise, Frightfur Sheep! That's not going to kill you!" Frightfur Sheep had an effect that got around death. Every time it was destroyed, it would come back with 800 more attackpoints. The sheep of death(8/2800/2800) was pulled up by the chains on its back. "See. We are perfectly in sync. You'd call that manipulation? Heh, you're just running out of lies." The girl did her usual cackle.

"Yeah! And there's more where that came from! I activate Void Imagination!" The cleansed field made room for the tree of purgatory, with the ten spheres of sin. "Now that I control this continuous spell, I can lower the level of my Infernoids to 1! In return, the damage they inflict will be cut in half." As Infernoids could normally not be special summoned when their master already controlled monsters whose combined levels exceeded 8, Void Imagination provided a way around it. "I summon Infernoid Asmodai from my hand!" Now there was just a very lowlevel Infernoid Onuncu(1/3000/3000) on Erics field. Thus, by banishing an Infernoid from his hand, along with Infernoid Decatron in his graveyard; Infernoid Piaty the golden demon king(5/2200/0) could be special summoned. "When you take damage from Asmodai, you have to throw away one of your cards, June!" Eric had her in his sights. Asmodai slammed his staff down on the blonde womans hand and forced her to discard a Ritual Beast Pettlephin monster from her hand. "And I havent forgotten you either!" Infernoid Onuncu loomed over Neter. "Whoa.. looong!" The kid exclaimed, seconds before he was overwhelmed by spheres of hellish light. "Hah! Can a fool do that?"

Team June's LP: 3250

"That was not bad. Though you could have done more damage had you not used that Void spell. I guess you really had it out for my hand." Despite the immense power that the Infernoids had released upon the two duelists, June and Neter seemed to be completely unaffected. "I thought demons would pack a little more punch than fluffals and edge imps. Grrr." Eric reluctantly ended his turn. He would find a way to throw these people off their game yet. "Yay, my turn!" Neter already had a new plan. "Let's go go go!" He normal summoned his last Satellarknight Altair(4/1700/1300), whose effect special summoned Satellarknight Deneb(4/1500/1000) from the graveyard. "Hmm, Capella!" Deneb of course made sure Neter could add a new Tellarknight from his deck to his hand. "I will get him with this trap! Stellarnova Wave!" The continuous trap that he flipped face-up could special summon Tellarknights from the hand once a turn. Capella the white/gold chariot-rider(4/1100/2000) rode in on a path carved out of starlight.

"Oh no. You are not getting away with that again." Last time Phoebe had told him not to interfere. This time she did not recommend any alternate strategies, so Eric followed his own initiative. "I activate Misschief of the Yokai from my graveyard to reduce your monsters level by 1! Good luck XYZ-summoning now!" Eric could banish this trap to activate it against Satellarknight Deneb(3/1500/1000). "Oh. Oh no, whatever shall I do?" Neter halfheartedly pretended to be upset by this stunt. "Oh well, if I cannot go for rank 4.. Satellarknight Capella can treat all my Tellarknights as level 5 monsters!" Neter overlayed all three of his star warriors, their level stars increased to five as they threw themselves into the XYZ-portal. "Capella can do what?" Erics plan backfired. He could not prevent a rank-5 XYZ-summon. "Satellarknight Constellar Diamond!" The celestial dragon warrior(5/2700/2000) was born, it carried the cosmos in its own wings.

"Now, I will power him up with Hexatellarknight!" Neter placed his field spell on his dueldisk. Eric saw this as his last chance to redeem himself. "I got this.. Infernoid Onuncu can negate spells or traps by sacrificing other monsters I control!" The great devil dragon devoured its own body from tail to head and bled hellfire all over the field. Hexatellarknight turned into a smoldering wasteland. "Awwww.. whoops. Did I say Hexatellarknight? I meant.. Hexatellarknight!" So Neter simply activated a second copy of the field spell from his hand. "What? Come on!" Now Constellarknight Diamond would gain 200 attackpoints for each of its XYZ-materials. Currently it(3300/2000) was only interested in Phoebe's demons. "Time to go, Frightfur Sheep!" The stellar dragon fired a dozen photon rays from its wings, and filled the fused chainsaw sheep with holes. "..." Frightfur Sheep tried to crawl back up and repair itself again. "Uh-uh-uh!" So the Diamond knight(3100/2000) put it down for good, by detaching one XYZ-material and slamming it to pieces with its tail. "My XYZ-monster can negate the effects of dark monsters, like all of your deadly toys! Also as long as Diamond has XYZ-materials, cards cannot be sent from the deck to the graveyard or from the graveyard to a players hand!"

Team Phoebe's LP: 3700

"Damn it. We can get them, Phoebe. We have to!" Eric tried his best to not look weak in front of his partner. It was too late for that. "Don't tell me what we need, Stonewell. I take my own advise. They'll bleed." Before Neter ended his turn, Phoebe activated her trap card. "Overlay Drain. Your XYZ-monster will suffer first. All of its materials are taken and I gain a new card for each card that went to the grave!" The drain trap, one whose construction Phoebe had requested herself , was another perfect tool against the onslaught of XYZ-monsters. She did not think she would use it like this though. "That's mean!" Neter whined as Diamond(2700/2000) lost all of its powers, while Phoebe drew two cards. "You yourself said there are no rules in dueling. This is the consequence!" "Fusion Recovery." Phoebe then activated her spell to recover Polymerization and one monster that had been used as a fusion material, Edge Imp Chain. "Polymerization!" Phoebe fused Edge Imp Chain again with the Fluffal Bear in her hand, to fusion summon a second Frightfur Sheep(6/2000/2000).

 _Overlay Drain, Normal Trap  
_ _Target 1 Xyz Monster on the field; detach all of its Xyz Materials.  
_ _If you have no monster cards on your field or cards in your hand: you can draw 1 card for each detached Xyz Material._

"Now look closely, Stonewell. This is what a real monster should be like." As Edge Imp Chain had been sent to the graveyard again, it could take another Frightfur card from her deck. She used the effect to get her hands on a second Frightfur Fusion. "By fusing three Frightfur fusion monsters, the ultimate Frightfur can be created." With Frightfur Fusion, Phoebe fused the Sheeps on the field with the Sheep and Frightfur Bear in her graveyard. "FUSION SUMMON! FRIGHTFUR CHIMERA!" The girl slammed her hands together, as a horrific amalgam arose from the maelstrom. It(8/2800/2000) was a machine with the torn -off upper bodies of the two Sheep and Bear stuffed on top of mechanical claws. "When Frightfur Chimera strikes, no effects can be activated." The bear head opened its jaws wide and fired a missile. The missile detonated upon impact with the Constellar Stellarknight. Bits and pieces of gold and diamond flew everywhere.

Team June's LP: 3150

"And whatever it kills, becomes mine!" The destroyed body of the XYZ-monster was re-assembled. Stellarknight Constellar(1350/2000) returned to life, but weaker than it was before. Chimera's targets could only be special summoned to its side with half their attackpoints taken away. However, Frightfur Chimera(3100/2000) gained 300 attackpoints for each monster that Phoebe had stolen away with card effects. "Direct attack." Her new monster would attack its former master. The dragon slammed into the kid. "Uwah, rude!" Neter looked pain for once, which pleased the twofaced girl. She placed a trap down and ended her turn. "Maybe now you will feel a little less tongue-tied? The two of you are clearly not part of any Guild. So why you join our little massacre scene?"

Team June's LP: 1800

"You will have to excuse us, since we usually just take the answers." June brazenly admitted. "You're an unusual case, this whole world is. Not many people are immune to my ability. But the one we are looking for, Tempus, he would be.." She said the name again. Phoebe cracked another smile. "Tempus? Doesn't ring a bell. You should try asking the XYZ-guild." The fusion guild leader suggested. "We did, you were next in line. Now Eric knows nothing, but you do.. You can't hide that. Let's stop being coy with each other." June started her turn properly. "I activate Ritual Beast Ambush. This trap will summon a Spiritual Beast and a Ritual Beast Tamer from the graveyard." The Beast Cannahawk(4/1600/200) and the Tamer Lara(1/100/2000) returned to the field. "I fuse them.." The pair was banished to fusion summon a second Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk(6/1400/1600). "Now with her, I can get another Ritual Beast card." Ulti-Cannahawks effect returned the banished Cannahawk and Lara to the graveyard and added Ritual Beast Tamer Wen to June's hand at the same time. Ritual Beast Tamer Wen(4/1500/1000) was normal summoned and her effect special summoned the banished Spiritual Beast Apelio(4/1800/200).

"Ooh! You're gonna do it, June?" Neters excitment levels reached a peak. "Yes I am. I get a feeling that August and December are waiting for us, so we're gonna wrap this up now. There is one Ulti-beast that can only be fusion summoned by banishing a Beast Tamer, a Spiritual Beast and another Ritual Ulti-Beast." Apelio and Tamer Wen both jumped on the back of Ulti-Cannahawk and covered themselves in a green glow. " _This_ monster is Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio!" The energy scattered like raining bullets and revealed the creature underneath. The tamer now rode a giant lion(10/3200/2100) with fur of grass and great tree on its back. "Here is my chimera, Phoebe. What do you think?" The Gaia-lion made a giant leap towards Stellarknight Diamond. In its current state the Knight could not even put up a fight, Gaia-Pelio flattened it. Frightfur Chimera(2800/2000) had no more puppet slaves to draw power from. "Oh yeah, now it is getting fun, June. You are a freak of nature like me!"

Team Phoebe's LP: 1850

"Is that what you are looking for in a duelist, freaks?" June did not sound insulted, just confused. "I know that's not why _you_ joined the guild. Do you remember why Eric?" She placed a trap card down and passed the turn to Eric. "Why are you asking me that? If this is another trick.." This question did make his brain go into overtime. "I..did it because.." He could find the reasons; two of them. Except one conflicted with the other. "Stop trying to confuse me! I'm going to beat you no matter what!" He activated his face-down continuous trap after his draw phase. "Void Launch! I can send two Infernoids to my graveyard during my standby phase!" Eric discarded Infernoid Antra and Infernoid Harmadik, two Infernoids which would serve well as cannonfodder. "Now that you have an extra deck monster, I can use Void Imaginations other effect!" The purgatorial tree spell destroyed itself. "Void Imagination fuses five Infernoids in my deck, including Infernoid Devyaty, to fusion summon my ultimate monster; Infernoid Tierra! And then he will send even more cards from the extra deck to the grave!"

"I am afraid not, Eric. You see.." June discarded a Ritual Beast monster from her hand. "Ulti-Gaiapelio can negate any effect by discarding a card from my hand." The great lion burned the hell dragon(11/3400/3600) just as it broke out of its sin sphere prison to attack the extra deck. "Argh! Then I will resummon Infernoid Nehemoth! Eric banished the Infernoids Antra, Harmadik and Devyaty from the graveyard, all to resummon Infernoid Onuncu. "I don't care if you can negate this, I am not giving up until the end!" And as it turned out, the tenth dragon of hell was allowed to purge all life once more. It just did not mean June would be defenseless. "Ritual Beast Steeds!" Before Gaiapelio died, she activated a trap that required the presence of a Ritual Beast. "For each Ritual Beast, one card will be destroyed. Your fusion monster will go down with the others, Eric."

"No, it wont!" Eric played a quickplay spell from his hand. "Void Seer! My Infernoid unaffected by your card effects this turn!" Golden clouds surrounded Infernoid Onuncu. Gaiapelio, who tried to ram the demon with its body, could not get close enough. "Die! Die!" So June's monster perished. "Stonewell.." However, so did Phoebe's Frightfur Chimera and Erics Infernoid Piaty. "Sorry, Dame Phoebe. This is all I could come up with. I can finish them off now at least!" There were no traps left, no monsters; he had a clean shot and nothing could go wrong. "Eric Stonewell, you really have grown. I am sorry too.." June found a way to make it go south still. She discarded Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit from her hand. "What.." The psychic monster destroyed any card after said card used its power. "No! I'm still not.. strong enough?" He stammered. Despite Onuncu's succesful field-wipe, it fell victim to destruction itself. No monsters were on the field, and no summoning methods were available. "I would have loved to play fairly against you, but we are far beyond that."

"This is on your head." Phoebe snapped at Eric. "They let you use Infernoid Onuncu, they made you destroy my monster too! Now they.." They were an easy target, 1850 lifepoints was not a lot to rely on. "Hey now. It's not his fault. He might have done better if you hadn't bossed him around so much. Besides, we're just tooooo good." Neter was in another happy mood, as the draw phase was very generous in his turn. "June has a power, but I do too. I feel bad for you guys, so I will tell you what it is! I have the power of Hope! I can draw whatever I need, when I need it!" Neter activated a spell, Monster Reborn. "!" That card needed no explanation. It was known to every duelist in the world. With Monster Reborn, any monster in the graveyard could come back to life. "I am gonna use my monster to end it, okay June?" Neter special summoned The Stellar Constellarknight(5/2700/2000) from his graveyard. "It's your turn." She shrugged. "Yay! Here we go, scary Phoebe and poor Eric!" The knight of diamond raised his sword. "Diiiiirect attack!" One swing of the blade, and both fusion duelists were knocked down.

Team Phoebe's LP: 0

"It always comes down to this, no matter where or when we are." June sighed. She dismissed the monsters with the wave of her hand. "Now. What can you tell me?" She stared down at Dame Phoebe, who was kneeling on the ground and too winded to resist. _"That's.."_ Eric saw where that odd brightness came from, he had noticed it before whenever June went into one of her long stares. There were jewel earrings hidden in her hair. The gemstones looked exactly like Uno's pendant. That was the last thing he saw before he passed out. His body was not used to such power. "That is strange.." June concluded once she was done with her 'scan'. "What is 'strange'?" Neter asked. "She is still hiding. I can't get to her other persona. I got a few things, she knows that there is another force.. the same that scared Roma so much. Maybe those are his forces." June looked behind her. "You had another friend here..."

"Heheh. You mean Martel. _He_ did not tell me where he went, Dame knows.. Phoebe doesn't." The girl had at least one last laugh. "You smile now, but I did figure out the secret behind your multiple personality. You're the same person, you just use some extreme form of hypnosis on yourself to switch identities and memories. That's also what Eric was affected by. It is almost as if someone knew you had to be afraid of mindreaders. Was it your friend Martel who told you?" June inquired, but this time Phoebe held her mouth shut. "Well, wherever he is. She is not our concern right now. Neter, let's.." June paused when her eyes fell on Eric. "June? Did you do something?" Neter saw his partner scanning Eric. "I merely stirred his memories. It should help him sort mind once he wakes up. I have a good feeling about this world, Neter. It may last a while.. But let's leave that for now." She placed her hand on Neters shoulder. "June..you know what December's gonna say.." Neter tapped his own pendulum jewel and the two teleported away. In the end Phoebe had not gotten any wiser. _"...Are they even from the other side?"_

...

"Ah, great to hear from you Zach! Are you there yet?" At long last, Dom received a message from the outside world and from his own trusted disciple no less. "Almost, sir." A disgruntled Zach answered to the tired old question. "We are within sight of the building and I have notified the authorities of the crisis. They are sending people towards the park as we speak. I also managed to contact our main network hosts and informed them of the damage the XYZ-guild caused. Your place should be fully up and running in a matter of minutes." Not to mention, he had to make a lot of phonecalls while flying. "Excellent! Where would we be without you? How is the family, how is Uno?" Dom was eager to hear more. "And what of the cards, Creffield?" Iria's curiosity matched her master, albeit in a different more difficult to answer direction. "Well. There's a story. I.." Zach did plan on telling them. "What was that?" Yet a mild distortion interrupted communication briefly.

"Gah! The mystery men..and girl!" Dom jumped from his seat, the four travelers had warped into his room. "Hello hello! I told ya I'd bring my friends!" Neter greeted them. "I see you had a party in here." Jane spotted Ichirou in the corner of the room, still knocked out and strapped to a chair. "Ehr, what can I do for you gentlemen?" Dom approached them carefully, verbally. Physically he maintained a fair distance. "Wasn't I clear enough the last time?" August grunted. "We want everything you know!" He advanced on the master. "Well there is a long line of people who want the same.." Dom stepped backwards while Iria moved forward to activate her dueldisk. "So you can take it up with me." Now that full power had been restored, Iria had access to all defensive measures. She tapped into the controls and shrunk the barrier around the room. "Ah!" Her dueldisk and Dom were now covered, his body had its own personal shield. "Ah, tricky fricky." Neters teleporting ability wouldn't help if there was not enough space for anyone else inside the forcefield. "The security fields are linked to my profile. Just like anyone else, if you want the master, you will have to go through me."

(To be Continued in Annex 061: Every Law is Breakable)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Infernoid Asmodai

-  
Misschief of the Yokai  
Void Launch

 **New Cards used by Dame Phoebe  
** Frightfur Chimera

 _-  
Overlay Drain_

 **New Cards used by June  
** Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio

-  
Ritual Beast Ambush

 **New Cards used by Neter  
** Satellarknight Capella

-  
Stellarknight Constellar Diamond

-  
Monster Reborn

-  
Stellarnova Wave


	61. Every Law is Breakable

**Annex 061: Every Law is Breakable**

They were vanquished, every last one. The men and women that attempted to duel August or December had their lifepoints stripped away in rapid succession and their dueldisk drained of power. "My entire army.." Two triumphed over dozens. It should not have been possible even through chance. And to add even more insult, the two just disappeared before finishing off the rest. "This is not over!" Roma's followers still had some workable dueldisks, he could still salvage this. "Roma! It _is_ over!" But Adamant disagreed with that, for several reasons. "We have to fall back! We have nothing to gain from staying here! Dom is lost to us and outside forces are on the way here." Every other guild had dispersed already anyway, there was nobody left to duel. "Enforcers? How did they find out?" The XYZ-guild had lost control completely, the plan was unraveling. "That does not matter now! Give the order to retreat, the guild cannot fight as it is now!" Adamant yelled. "Grr. Fine. I will.. but I want to know who slipped through the cracks.."

...

The ones who did, who had flown over the XYZ-guilds perimeter, were now landing on top of Dreamworld HQ. Everything had gone well for them, the same could not be said for Dom and Iria on their end. "Sir! Sir! Agh, he cannot hear me!" Zachs conversation with the Master had been interrupted by the ill-timed arrival of the four travelers. All outgoing messages were being scrambled. "I have to get back there!" Zach was inches away from restarting the helicopter and flying back. "Calm down, Creffield! What good would that do? It would take you another hour to make it back!" Cassius grabbed his hand and pointed out the futility of it all. "But what if they hurt him, what if they hurt Silver? You can't expect me to sit here and do nothing!" The disciple struggled. "You are not doing nothing. You made sure help is on the way. Let them handle this. Also.." Cassius placed his hand on the on-board radio. "They cannot hear you, but we can hear them. And they haven't realized that yet. We should record everything they're saying.."

...

"Ooh? can we duel her? I saw her in the tournament! Her cards are real special!" Neter went giddy at the thought of accepting Iria's ultimatum. "Quiet Neter, I need to concentrate." June had different ideas. Her earrings lit up only for a few seconds. "Still nothing. That mask is blocking me. Never seen anything like it." This was the second time someone had found a way to circumvent her power. "It does? Well what are the odds!" Dom chuckled. "We really gotta do it the old fashioned way, do we? Well the four of us can break her with ease!" August cracked his knuckles. "Is that how you want to do it?" A smirk crossed Iria's lips. "What was that?" Augusts left eye twitched. "Are you not a duelist? Can you not fight by yourself?" Iria said provokingly as she started drawing her cards. Whatever he intended to do, she was going to start the duel and take the first turn.

"I summon Frontline Observer." She called out a clunky-looking helicopter robot(4/1000/1500) with a claw for one hand and a gun for the other. "During the endphase of this turn in which it was normal summoned, Frontline Observer will place an earth-attribute Pendulum monster in my hand." Iria placed two trap cards down and let the main phase end. "I shall add Qliphort Scout." Her choice fell on the scale 1 Qli-scoutship. Afterwards her turn ended and any of them were free to jump in. "Qliphort." December broke his silent demeanor to make a noise of surprise. . "That settles it." August had a more impassioned response. "I will _crush_ your cards!" He activated his disk and drew six cards.

Iria's LP: 8000 August's LP: 8000

"Come, Darkness of the Yang Zing!" August normal summoned a tuner monster, the corrupted seawyrm Jiaotu(2/0/2000). "I do not need to explain his power to you..do I?" While a player controlled no monsters, Jiaotu the Darkness could discard 2 Yang Zing cards to special summon two Yangzings from the deck. One of those Yangzings had to have zero attackpoints, the other was required to have zero defense points. Both would be banished at the end of the turn. "Come to me, Wind and Earth!" August discarded 2 monsters and summoned Yangzing of the wind, Pulao(1/0/1800) and Taotie - Shadow of the Yang Zing(5/2200/0). "Before you is the enemy!" August needed one more card to really start the battle. He activated Supply Squad. "Remember it!" He sent Pulao right into the Frontline Observer, letting the weak dragon-wyrm kill itself in that battle. August lost some lifepoints, yet because Yangzing Pulao was destroyed, the wyrm special summoned a new Yangzing, Chiwen of the Light(1/0/0), from Augusts deck in defense mode. This was also where Supply Squad came in, as that continuous spell allowed August to draw one card once a turn, if his monster was destroyed. "Now kill it!" Taotie summoned geysers of dark plasma from the floor and guided them towards the Frontline Observer. Iria's robot was torn down by the shadows. "I set two cards to match yours! Then you can take your turn!" During his endphase, Tao'tie was banished by Jiaotu's effect. "And nobody else! I can defeat her by myself!"

August's LP: 7000 Iria's LP: 6800

"Some masochist, isn't he?" Dom commented dryly. "It is the strategy he chose." Iria activated Qliphort Scout from her hand, setting the scale 9 scoutship in one pendulum zone. She than gave the Scout 800 lifepoints, so that it could use its search effect and pick Qliphort Monolith out of the deck. Qliphort Monolith, the scale 1 pendulum machine, set itself in the other pendulum zone. "I will pendulum summon the Pendulum monsters; Qliphort Disk and Qliphort Cephalopod." The qli-cargoship(4/1800/0) and the shellfish-like machine(4/1800/0) blasted down to the field. Their levels and points had been lowered as they were not tribute summoned. "There they are, the proof of your guilt!" August sounded like he could retch, as he looked upon the Qliphorts. "You talk like a man who has seen these cards before. Then there is the fact that your associate has Pendulum monsters of his own. Can you explain that? How did you acquire those cards?"

Iria's LP: 6000

"How did _you_ get those cards!? We had them long before you did!" August yelled and he activated his trap card, Torrential Tribute. Because Iria had summoned monsters, this trap would destroy all monsters on the field. "I do not answer to you. I activate Qlipper Launch!" Iria responded by activating her trap. Qlipper Launch gave all Qliphorts 300 attack and defense points and they(4/2100/300) would be immune to spell and trap effects. Her machines flew away from the torrential waves, while all of Augusts Yangzings got swept away. Of course both Jiaotu and Chiwen could special summon new Yangzings when they were destroyed by this card effect. "Bi'an of the Earth, Bixi of the Water!" The tiger wyrm(2/0/1800) and turtle wyrm(3/1600/0) were summoned from the deck. That was the first gain. Second; Supply Squad drew one more card for August. Third; Chiwen - Light of the Yang Zing(1/0/0) could special summon itself from the graveyard now that a Yangzing had been destroyed. So August controlled three monsters again. "Bian!" He now activated the effect of the water wyrm to perform a quick synchro summon during his opponents main phase, with Chiwen as the tuner. "I activate Skill Drain." This was when Iria revealed her second trap, a continuous trap that took away 1000 of her lifepoints.

Iria's LP: 5000

"Now who is the masochist?" Skill Drain negated all monster effects on the field. Not only did this undo the power limiters of Cephalopod(8/2800/1000) and Carrier(6/2400/1000). Since the trap chained to Bi'an, its effect would be blocked. However. "Unfortunately it is useless!" August could chain to Skill Drain with his other Yangzing. Bixi had the same effect as Bi'an. "The Elements shall become one, and all will tremble!" Bixi used itself and Bi'an as the materials and Chiwen of the Light as the tuner, to bring out a level 6 synchro monster before Skill Drain resolved. "Synchro summon; Red Wyvern!" A red dragon(6/2400/2000), with no arms and wings of fire, was forged from the elements of light, water and earth. "One time only, Red Wyvern can destroy the strongest monster, if it is not the strongest monster itself!" The Wyvern released a blast of fire to knock Qliphort Cephalopod out of the air. "I see. Because the Water Yangzing was used as a synchro material, your synchro monster is immune to trap cards." Red Wyvern was unaffected by Skill Drain thanks to Bixi's synchronization with it. "Nor can your monster be destroyed this turn." The Bi'an material made sure the synchro summoned monster could not be destroyed as a result of battle. As Red Wyvern was summoned in defense mode, there was no point in attacking it. "My turn will end then."

"Heh. You can't even touch me. Nor will you ever! You are just as powerless as your friend! He needed the help of that outsider to even stay alive!" August drew a new card. "Outsider? You mean Uno? What does he have to do with this?" Dom asked. "Don't pretend to not know. He was your messenger-boy." August met that question with another, one that sounded more like an accusation. "We know as little as we can. Just that he has the same item that you hold." Iria said. She could not see the pendulum jewel on Augusts person, but she knew Neter had one. She assumed they all had jewels like that. "The Pendulum. That is something he should not have. Are you saying it was not you who gave it to him? That it was not you who gave him his pendulum cards?" August activated his field spell, Celestia. A cosmic cluster of wormholes formed, flooding the office with stars. "Like I could believe that!" By banishing three Wyrms from Augusts graveyard, Celestia could destroy one card on the field. Taotie, Bi'an and a previously discarded Lindbloom were banished. This resulted in Qliphort Disk being vanquished by the galactic darkness. "Attack her, Red Wyvern!" Nothing protected Iria now. Red Wyvern flew by and smacked its claws against her. "Ugh!"

Iria's LP: 2600

"Iria! Don't break a leg!" Dom shouted. "That was not my plan, sir. Might I suggest you take a tactical retreat?" The disciple refused to let a little pain get in her way, but she was worried about his condition. "I don't like my chances against instant warp kid over here." He responded as he subtly pointed at Neter. "Oh you can try! We can make it into a game of hide and seek! I always win though."

"That will not be necessary." Iria tensed her arms and hands. August placed another trap card down and after that she could take her turn. She drew a monster card. "My turn. I shall pendulum summon!" Iria was about to summon two Qliphorts from her extra deck and one from her hand. "Will you? I activate Dragons Bind!" But before the actual act of pendulum summoning could be started, August revealed a continuous trap, targeting Red Wyvern. "No monsters can be special summoned unless they have more attackpoints than my dragon!" Red Wyvern had 2400 attackpoints, Qliphort Scout and Qliphort Helix also had 2400 attackpoints. They were 'bound' by the dragons trap, and could not leave her extra deck or hand. Qliphort Disk(8/2800/1000) could at least be pendulum summoned. "Heh. You only have been using Pendulums for less than a week? We have had years to learn how they work!" August boasted. "Is that so?" Iria only saw one way out of this mess now. "I add Qliphort Helix to my hand!" She had to pay 800 lifepoints to use Qliphort Scout's effect.

Iria's LP: 1800.

"... Laser Qlip." And she pushed it a bit further, with a field spell she possessed. "What is this now?" Purple laser beams shot out of Qliphort Disk, and covered every star in the Celestial space. "Once Laser Qlip becomes the field, Qli monsters can be normal summoned twice each turn, and their normal summons cannot be negated." Iria told him as she first normal summoned Qliphort Helix(4/2400/1000) without tributes, using its summon effect. That could not be negated by Skill Drain. "I tribute summon.. Qliphort Stealth." Then both the Disk-ship and DNA-ship were sacrificed for the invisible Qliphort jet(8/2800/1000). "With Helix tributed, one spell has to be destroyed." Iria, unexpectedly, chose her own trap for this effect. Skill Drain was removed from her field. Now her monsters could use all their effects again. "With Qliphort Stealth tribute summoned, it sends one monster away from the field." The stealth-machine blasted Red Wyvern and returned it to August's extra deck. Without the dragon around, Dragons Bind destroyed itself. "Now this is where I attack you, August." Qliphort Stealth prepared a second shot and fired it into Augusts chest. "Rgh!"

August's LP: 4200

"Looks like she made a liar out of you, August. Should we lend a hand?" June inquired calmly as August staggered backwards. "No! I do not!" He gave his usual roaring retort. "Then show me." Iria moved to her endphase and Qliphort Monolith drew two cards for the two Qliphort monsters she had tributed this turn. "Before I end my turn, I will activate this to destroy your field spell, Mystical Space Typhoon." As the destroying cyclone card was a quickplay spell, it could even be activated during the endphase. That is what she did to get rid of Celestia. "Gah!" There went his easy way to victory. "You are more troublesome than I took you for, woman. That I can admit. However, in the end all of this is a waste of time! I summon Al-Lumi'raj!" Augusts next wyrm was a little peculiar. It looked like a small rabbit(3/1600/1000) made from blue light, except it had a unicorns horn on its head. "That card will not affect my Qliphorts, August." Al-Lumi'raj normally reduced a monsters attackpoints by 300 for each of its level or rank stars. However a normal summoned Qliphort would not be affected by the effects of lower-leveled monsters.

"You think you're smarter than me, don't you? Bah! What you people do not know could fill the galaxy! XYZ-Ray Pierce, feed on Red Wyvern and Bixi of the Water!" August needed a second monster and he got one. XYZ-Ray Pierce(4/1700/1200) was a wyrm of charred bones and fire. It had the ability to special summon itself from the deck, by banishing a wyrm and a dragon from the graveyard. "Drown them in the darkness of their own sins! Synchro Summon! Yazi - Evil of the Yang Zing!" The horned rabbit was a tuner monster. It synchronized with the XYZ-Ray-Piercer to create a 7th level synchro monster; a grim black wyrm(7/2600/2100) in dark chinese armor. "What are you trying to accomplish?" Yazi, while dangerous, was still no threat to her. The Evil Yang Zing could potentially destroy cards on both fields, and it could special summon wyrms from the deck if it was destroyed itself, but it had too low a level to affect Qliphort Stealth. "These cards are just a tool to you. Their power is all that matters, so power is all you will get! Yazi, attack!" Despite everything against it, the synchro wyrm clashed with the invisible Qli-machine. However, this was no suicidal charge.

"Yang Zing Brutality!" It was his decisive attack. August activated an attack-boosting trap during the damage step; Yang Zing Brutality doubled a Yang Zing's attackpoints. "Ah!" Yazi(5600/2100) grew twice as large as it had been before, reaching the ceiling of the office. "There have been many who tried to stop us. You are just another in a long line!" The creature of Evil smothered Qliphort Stealth with an all-obscuring fog. "Kgah!" Iria coughed, she nearly choked on it.

Iria's LP: 0

"Enough!" Decembers booming voice broke through the dark, finally heard after a long silence. "You are done." With a single gesture he turned off Iria's dueldisk and the barriers it had created. Augusts monsters were dismissed as well. Her last stand was over. "How is this.. possible?" This simply did not make sense, why did she feel so weak after losing a game? "Do not blame yourself. You dueled as well as was you could." June seemed to approve of what she had seen. Not everyone shared that opinion. "She _should_ blame herself, she was too weak. I told you all I could do this alone." August boasted. "So does she even have anything?" By now June should have been able to break into her head and dig up all her secrets. "She was telling the truth before, as far as she knows. This Uno did not get the pendulum from them. However, this is confusing.. She does know the name of the one who 'invented' the pendulum monsters in this world." At last, there was Master Dom to give them their answers, so June approached him. With a book in her hands. "Dom. We first believed that you were the author of this work. But we were wrong" It was the book of The First Duelist. "Who is UNO?"

...

At Dreamworlds HQ, after a horrifying twelve hours, the Brandt family could finally come to rest. While Cassius and Zachary oversaw the rescue operation of the people in the amusement park, they took Uno to Doms main office in this building. "You don't think he is dying.. or in a coma? Do you? Mom?" Uno had been gently placed on a couch. He had not given one sign of life all this time, aside from his breathing. "This does not look like a coma to me." Her mother ascertained. To her he looked more like a very deep sleeper. "It's just like when you found him. He did not budge then either. He will be up in no time I bet." Emily reasoned. Though this was the third time already. It was starting to look like a chronic affliction. It at least put her sisters vivid imagination at ease. "Yeah. He must have been so tired. I hope his dreams are nicer than... the real world."

...,,,,,

Uno was starting to hate this place and he had not even been here for more than a few minutes. Or was it several hours since he woke up? Nothing here indicated time at all. There was only solitude, darkness and the creaking wooden walls. He was pretty certain that people could go insane in a place like this. "Heellloooo! Should I be shouting in different languages! English is all I got!" Calling out for names was not taking him anywhere, everything looked the same. _"I am probably walking around in circles too. Just great.. why do I always find places like these?"_ Uno stopped walking. _"Wait. This feels.. like Deja Vu.."_ Vague memories started to associate with what his senses were experiencing. _"Havent I done this before? And what is..that?"_ Something protruded from the wall, something retractable. _"A Book!?"_ These walls were bookcases. This was a library. And this book was not just a normal book. There was a name on the cover. His name.

(To be Continued in Annex 062: Faceless from the Past)

 **New Cards used by Iria Silver  
** Frontline Observer

-  
Laser Qlip

-  
Qlipper Launch  
Skill Drain

 **New Cards used by August  
** Pulao, Wind of the Yangzing  
XYZ-Ray Pierce  
Al-Lumi'raj

-  
Red Wyvern  
Yazi, Evil of the Yangzing

-  
Supply Squad

-  
Dragon Bind  
Yang Zing Brutality


	62. Faceless from the Past

**Annex 062: Faceless from the Past**

"Hey, Alice. I am going to check up on Cassius and see what he is doing. Will you be alright for a while?" Emily got up from her chair. Normally she was fine with patiently waiting for things to happen, but these were not normal times. "Sure. I have Uno for company. I can stay up for a little longer." Alice had her soft couch, she did not mind. Heather had already moved to the ground floor to call friends, coworkers and her own husband to tell them about all the madness she had seen today. "Okay. I'll be back as soon as I can." Her sister walked out of the office, Alice was alone now. _"He's gonna wake up. He did it the last two times.. But, why did this happen to him_?" Curiosity won her over, just like the first time, and she peeked to look at Uno's pendulum. "Huh.." That was when she noticed the cracks in the crystal. _"It's cracked? Oh no. Did that.."_ She looked back at his dueldisk and his cards. _"Was it the duel?"_

 _..._

 _"What is this..what.."_ In his hands was a book that had his name as the title; Uno. To say that this was unexpected would be an understatement. _"Okay. Calm down, Uno. It could just be a book about spanish numbers.. as boring as that sounds. Or maybe this is one of those books UNO wrote.. No wait he used a false name."_ He tried to calm himself down. It did not help that this library had been disturbing enough before now. _"It's not just dumb luck that I picked this book either. Something freaky is going on.."_ He had only one way figure out what the deal was with this book. He had to read it. "Huh?" But there was nothing on the inside. "What kind of book is this?" He flipped through the book, there were hundreds and hundreds of blank pages and nothing more. It was only when he got to the end that he stumbled upon words. That did little to diminish the strangeness of it all. " _Nothing; no buildings, no faces, no voices."_ Uno began reading it in his head. At first he could not make out what was going on or what it was about. But then he saw names... and places..

"You're... not.." It was about him, it was about Alice finding him, it was about Emily and Alice waking him up in their house. "How can this.." It went on and on, more and more of his own experiences were right there on paper. "Why is this about me? How?" It went beyond the guilds, the tournament, the travelers, the future world. It covered events that only he could have known about. It covered everything right up until this exact second. The last sentence in the book spoke about him reading this very book, finishing with his questions. "Agh!" This was not normal, this could not be happening. "Who wrote this!?"

"You did."

A face with two red eyes dropped down in front of him. "Eesh!" Uno flinched backwards and crashed against another bookcase, causing several books to fall out. "It's you!" A little girl hung upside-down from the bookcase, with her long braids touching the floor. "Cloe! This _is_ your house!" It was the youngest prophecy sister, still wearing the same white clothes from before. "Keen eyes, Uno." She stated unemphatically. "I knew it, this place was too familiar... How did I get here?" That was the mystery that desperately needed solving. "Oh you did not. Not really. You just fell asleep and your mind took a tumble through your own memories!" Cloe claimed as she lifted herself up and disappeared behind the bookcase. "Hold on! You're telling me that this is all a dream? Hey!" Uno called out after her. He had no clue where she had gone off too, and no idea on how to find her. "Wait.." He noticed the books lying around, they all had the same featureless cover and letterfont. There was a name on each book, a full name. "Emily Brandt? Zachary Creffield?" One for each person he had met. "Why.. why do you have these.."

"Careful!" Cloe's voice rang in his ears. No way to find out where it was coming from. "You already used up two questions!" The girl was definitely enjoying this. "Already? I didn't..You didn't say we were doing another round of three!" Uno shouted. "Yes I did. When we first met." She helpfully explained. "You never stopped doing it?" Uno cringed as the words left his mouth. "Was that a question?" The girl replied. "No! No. Just..thinking.. And hey you didn't even answer the first two questions completely!" If he had wasted two turns already, he would at least get a full story out of it. "No I didn't. But I said what you needed to know. You wrote that book, with your own experiences. Those other books were all written by their own owners. This part of the library was made for me, for the past. That is what you saw in there. Now about your second question.." Her voice fell silent. The sound of books dropping to the ground could be heard in the distance. "You damaged your pendulum. It could no longer keep you stabilized in this world, so your mind shut down."

 _"The pendulum, keeps me stabilized?"_ This information, it should have been earthshattering. Yet on some level, Uno already knew this. The pendulum was what allowed him to journey from one timeperiod to another, and it was what allowed Neter to jump from one place to another. This opened so many new unknowns while also clearing up old ones. _"Neter said something like this too. Is he a time traveler? Where did he come from then?"_

"You kept all those questions to yourself. That was not very kind to me." Cloe popped back into frame, her head poking through several books. "Ergh! Are.. You talk like you're reading my mind." Uno recoiled. He had to be careful when talking to her. She was clearly trying to draw out his third question. "No. That was the other woman. I did not have to read your mind, I merely had to read this." Cloe held up Uno's book. How it got in her hands, he had no idea. There was a whole new page in it now that described this very encounter. "I.." Where could he begin with this, where could it end? He had seen a lot of bizarre stuff already, but this was more than just a little crazy. Maybe he really was dreaming? If that was the case then none of this mattered. The answers were not worth it, they could have sprung from his own memories or lies. There was only one way forward. "How do I wake up?" He had to return. "Oh.. I did not expect that. You chose the present instead of the past. Unfortunately, you asked the wrong sister."

"She cannot tell you what you should do, Uno." Suddenly, there was a wide open space behind Uno. And in that space was a reading table. And at that table sat a woman in a green and red dress. "...Veronica." The second sister, Uno figured she would show up sooner or later. "You look different." Unlike Cloe, Veronica had changed her entire appearance. Her ears were pierced and her hair had a more punkish cut to it. "Thank you for noticing. I change it every day." She smiled. "Let's talk business. It seems you're stuck here with us. I can only tell you where you are and Cloe can only remind you of how you got here. That is what we see." She bluntly informed him. "Well.. then I know who I should ask." If the sisters of past and present were not going to help him, only the sister of the future remained. "Margot does not wish to see you and I can not see what will happen if you approach her. Are you sure you do not want to something else, something we can help with?" She asked him now. "Yes. Your third question has not been locked in yet." Cloe added.

"Sounds like a trap." Doubt weighed down on him. Uno finally had the opportunity to find out what he had forgotten, yet he did not want to lose his chance to return to his friends. "I could just leave." He looked for an exit, any exit. He had walked out of this house before. "You can't, actually." Unfortunately Veronica seemed to be telling the truth. There were no doors. "There should be.." He had seen doors the last time. Then again he had not been in this part of the house the last time. And if this was apparently all in his head, it did not need to make sense. "Or.." Uno tried left and right. Nothing worked, he ended up back at the reading table every time. "I can't stay here!" What good was the past to him if he had no way out. He wanted to remember, but he also wanted to live. "You said my mind was shut down because I damaged my pendulum. That must've happened when I dueled Meridian. I summoned that XYZ Dragon and..." He had it now. If he couldn't ask for a way to fix his issues, he would identify it and fix it himself. " _Why_ did my cards break my pendulum?"

"Oh. That was the question?" Cloe asked once more, without giving away whether or not it was a valid question. "Yes." Uno was determined to stick to this course either way. "Impressive, you rejected the past. You guessed correctly too. It was your card that caused the damage. Your Pendulum Dragon resonated with your XYZ Dragon, causing incompatible energy types to mix and discharge. Your XYZ dragon was too much for your pendulum, the cracks were a result of that." So far, so good. "Why was it too much?" Uno thought he could press his luck with a follow-up question, since it might count as a part of the same subject. "I was getting to that." It did count, luckily. "Your Pendulum did not feel you earned the right to use Dark Rebellion XYZ-Dragon." The girl asserted. "I didn't earn it? It did not seem to have a problem with fusion monsters, if that's what this is about." Uno argued back. "That was because you made those fusion dragons from your Pendulum dragon, they were not pure fusion monsters." Cloe stopped there. That was the end of the answer. "...Then I need to be worthy, somehow." It was a start. Was it enough?

"!?" His train of thoughts was disrupted. "..." The third sister, all of a sudden she stood there in between the bookcases. This was the first time Uno got a good look of her, though her back was turned to him. She was tall, had short black hair and wore all black clothes; a sweater, mantle and long skirt. In her black-gloved hand was another book, which she seemed to be reading. "Margot?" She payed no attention to any of her sisters or to Uno, she made no sound of any kind. "She said that you could earn the right, in this place." Still, Cloe was able to relay a message from her. "Here.. I should do what I did before. I should find a way to make a XYZ-monster with a pendulum monster." Uno had to admit that he liked the sound of that. The problem was, how would he do it? "First you need to duel against that kind of power. You need to prove you can overpower XYZ-monsters." Veronica chimed in again. "We can help."

"You?" He didn't see that coming. "Us." Cloe corrected him. "However, because your pendulum was damaged you lost a portion of your power; everything after the beginning." She started to say, and Veronica took over for her. "You can't use your magicians, your fusions, your pendulum dragon." Essentially only his performapals were usable. "Just the basics.." Uno had confirmed that back when he woke up here, now he understood why. "Well that makes things more interesting. Alright." Uno took his cards. Cloe smiled. "Good. However I forgot to mention.. Margot said one more thing. If you win, the damage will be undone. But if you lose, the damage will get worse. You could be stuck here forever."

"I will be trapped here if I do nothing anyway." Uno shrugged. The future did not change on its own accord. "Let's get this show on the stage."

 _..._

Ichirou woke up to a strange sight of his own. Apparently he had been tied down to the same chair that Dom was sitting on during his interrogation. But that was not the odd part. The odd part were the four people who were interrogating now. Master Dom was giving them a very interesting story. The same one he had given Uno and friends before, about UNO, his books, and his cards. It would be helpful later, for now it served better as a distraction. Nobody was minding him, in the corner of the office. Slowly he wrestled his hands out of his bonds.

"Well that's the basics. Now if you want the story of how I met the guy, I can tell this story the long way, the short way, the exciting way or the factual way." Dom was finally done with his speech, though he left the four travelers unsatisfied. "Do not delay us. We know you expect company soon, and they cannot save you. How did UNO make the pendulum cards? " August angrily reminded Dom of his place. He would crack his mask if he kept on prattling. "Now see here, I'm not stalling. I just abhor a dull narrative. Anyone can summarize historic events.. Besides, I couldn't tell you. Card design is largely in the hands of the creative staff and the guilds now." He was telling the truth. June figured that much by reading Iria's mind. "Yes we learned a great deal about your version of history when we took the data from the Synchro guilds and your libraries. But only you seem to know the name of the 'first duelist'. Did he ask for you to take credit as 'the cardmaker'?" June spoke as if she already knew the answer yet wanted to hear him say it anyway. "Yeah, UNO wanted to avoid publicity. I wish I was half as creative as UNO, the best things I created was this 3D-vision tech."

"... You too were aware of this, weren't you?" June turned to the disciple for a moment. "I was. But why does this matter?" Iria had little say in what answers to give someone who could tell lies from the truth with 100 % accuracy. But that did not stop her from wanting some answers in return. "It matters because anyone who claims to have invented the game is a liar. The cards and the monsters are far older than you can imagine. If you did not start this, then you are of no use to us! UNO is the one we need to find. Where is he?" August advanced on the Master and lifted him up by his collar. "Easy there sport! You'll ruin the fabric!" The master stammered. "When I say that UNO does not like to be seen, I mean it! He has not had one public appearance in recorded history and no known address. Not even I got to see him. He probably retired somewhere in a sweet old house near a beach, living off royalties. That's what I would have done. He sometimes mails me messages, sketches and ideas; that sort of stuff. You could try and track that; that is all I can give you.. well could."

" _Could?_ Explain yourself." August dropped Dom to the ground again. "Sure. Just give me a minute. My neck's had a rough day." The master cleared his throat. "Another funny coincidence. I had to decrypt everything on my system to keep my inventions from falling into the wrong hands. All of his emails.. were stored on there. The only way to recover the data is to get back the three cards that carry the decryption key. And I don't have those anymore. Just bad timing. If you had come a week earlier, things would have been fine." He tried to laugh it off. They did not look like they saw any humor in this situation. Surprisingly, they did not seem to angry either. "Where were you, when you last contacted him?" It was December now who requested facts from the master. "I was here. Behind this desk, on that laptop. It happened yesterday, around 5 PM." Dom gave him a straight and simple answer. This one was unlike the others. They were all terrifying to an extent, but he was compelling at the same time. He was not someone you wanted to say no to.

"Thank you." December even made his words of gratitude sound like death threats. The man clutched his chest and closed his eyes. "What is he doing?" Dom figured he could just ask about it. "Ooh! Can I tell him! It's really cool!" Neter was willing to meet Dom halfway. "I do not think..""He is looking into the past!" June did not even get a full sentence out, before the kid spilled the beans. "They did not need to hear that!" Neither June nor August were happy with this. "Looking into.. the past? You can do that?" That should have been an undeniable truth. Every time these people found new ways to challenge Iria's view of the world. "I can." December spoke up as his hand let go of his chest. "I have seen what I needed to see. If Tempus is a part of this, he's made sure we cannot link anything back to him. UNO might be a link, but Dreamworld is a dead end."

"I could have told you that from the start... who is Tempus?" That name got thrown around a lot in the last few hours. Dom wondered what was up with that. "A man whose face is unknown to us, but his crimes are seen everywhere. He is not someone you can fight, so do not worry about him." June said as she grabbed Neters shoulder. "Huh? We're going? But I wanna see what he's got hiding under his mask!" The kid said with a pout. "We have one more person to catch up with. And I already got the image from her head." The woman smiled at Iria. "Tch. That was not your right." Only the disciples had seen Dom without his mask, before today. "Where are you going, who is..." Iria realized who they were talking about. And June shared that realization. "Iria Silver, the pendulum is what makes everything possible.. You were entirely honest with us when you said that Dreamworld did not give Uno I his pendulum cards. This Uno seems to be special by himself, his duel with Neter made that undeniably so. He could be even more valuable than your UNO. However my colleague raise a good point. Before we leave, we have to make one agreement.."

June snapped her fingers, and in an instant Doms mask cracked like an eggshell. "Ahh!" The topleft side of his face was revealed, black hair and all. December then approached him to look Dom in the eye. "You will do one thing for us, Dom. And we will know if you try to deceive us..."

(To be Continued in Annex 063: A Dream had Me)


	63. A Dream had Me

**Annex 063: A Dream had Me**

"Emily, Alice!" At this exact time, the security room at Dreamworld HQ got a lot noisier. "What!? Aaron, why are you shouting?" Emily just happened to be close by enough to check what this was all about. "Where is Uno?" Zach asked as she came in the room. "Uno? He's in that big office you have one floor below, sleeping. Why?" Cassius and Zach were clearly distressed. "It's them. We've been listening in on Dom and Iria for the last half hour, after they encountered August and the others." Cassius rapidly explained. "You did? What did they say, what did they do?" There was no way this would not be important. "Dom and Silver aren't in danger. They're after Uno now! They probably know he is here!" If they assumed June could look into Iria's mind, then June would have seen where Uno was going. "We have to get him out now! They could already be here, sneaking by us like June did in the castle!"

"The world already knows about us. It would be too tiresome to erase half the minds on the planet." Said the devil they spoke of. "We could still do that here, depends on how you will react." June, Neter, August and December walked through the entrance to the security room. "Only a weakling avoids battles. And you let the contamination happen, June." August said spitefully. "I will let that slide, August. Any way, I do thank you for making this easy for us. The office one floor below you said?" June repeated Emily's words. The girl flinched. "Over my dead body!" She reached for her dueldisk. "Ooh, dramatic." Neter activated his first and intercepted her challenge. "You leave her alone!" Cassius and Zach went by Emily's example and turned their devices on. "See, this is what I was trying to avoid." Now June and August had no choice but to retaliate. "They're all fools." Three duelists from each side were locked into a battle royal. "..." Only Decembers hands were untied. He turned around and headed towards the office at a quiet pace. "No! You can't.. Stay away from them!" Emily could not stop him... or warn her sister that he was coming.

...,,,,,

Cloe's LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

Cloe and Veronica sat down at one end of the reading table. Uno's place was on the other side. The two sisters were apparently going to duel as one, with Cloe physically holding the cards. "I have chosen a deck that I believed to be appropriate." She had a pile of cards and drew five from the top. "We're hosting so we decide who's on first." Veronica would declare actions and manage rules when needed. Margot still stood at the end of the library, not commenting on anything. "Okay then." Uno drew his cards as well. Cloe then placed two cards down on the table, one monster and one spell or trap card. "That was turn one." Now Uno could draw his sixth card. "Okay." He mostly had Performapals in his hand, few of them were pendulum monsters. At least he still had those kinds of cards. _"_ It feels strange to duel without a dueldisk. But let's see where this goes! I set the scale 2 Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer and the scale 5 Performapal Fire Muffflerlion." He placed two of the pendulum pals at either side of the table.

"Whoa!" The cards had barely touched the field and instantly they created small pillars of light. "Okay? How did you pull that off?" The pendulum monsters were visualized, despite the lack of visible projectors anywhere in the room. "Well I could've told you that you didn't ever need dueldisks to make the monsters come to life. Or I could have claimed that there were once other ways to duel. But you used up all your questions.." The youngest sister mumbled. "No answers then. Got it." Uno would just have to roll with the weirdness. "I pendulum summon two monsters!" Performapal Secondonkey(4/1000/2000) and Bowhopper(4/1500/1000) were placed down on the field. "Pendulum Sorcerer does his magic whenever a Performapal is pendulum summoned!" The Sorcerer added 1000 attackpoints to the Donkey(2000/2000) and Grasshopper(2500/1000) until the end of the turn. "And with Secondonkey summoned in between two pendulum monsters, he will put another Performapal into my hand! I choose you, Performapal Silver Claw!" Uno searched his deck and claimed the silver-haired wolf(4/1800/700) who was then normal summoned. "You can go first, attack!" Silver Claw extended his(2100/700) claws and jumped on top of Cloe's facedown monster.

"You killed her." The set monster, a little ghost girl(2/1000/800) in snow-white robes, was easily destroyed. Yet her spirit lingered. "Her name was Ghostrick Yuki-Onna." The snow girl used a bewitching spell on Silver Claw, which forced the wolf into hiding. "A monster that destroys Yuki-Onna flips into face-down position and stays that way." Veronica explained. "Ah. The Ghostricks. Fitting." Uno liked those cards; they were a funny take on monstrous creatures. Ghostricks also had XYZ-monsters, so it even made sense. "What else ya got?" The attack of Silver Claw had powered up all Performapals this battle phase. Secondonkey(2300/2000) tried to attack Cloe directly. "This." Cloe activated a card from her hand; a snowman in winter clothes. It threw a snowball in the donkey's face. The Performapal tripped over its legs and stumbled into a face-down defensive position. "When you attacked directly, I activated Ghostrick Jack Frost from my hand and permanently switched your monsters position." Afterwards Jack Frost was special summoned to Cloe's side in a face-down position as well.

"Oh well, third time is the charm!" Performapal Bowhopper(2800/1000) catapulted a small bug across the table. "Not always." Cloe activated her continuous trap card; Ghostrick Go-Round. "What the?" A segment of the table flipped around like a revolving door; both Bowhopper and Jack Frosts monster zones were targeted. "Ghostrick Go-Round switches monsters positions during the battle phase. If a Ghostrick switches to face-up attack mode, one of your monsters switches to face-down defense mode." Ghostrick Jack Frost(1/800/100) revealed his snowy body, while Bowhopper was forced to cower in defense like all the other Performapals. "Hmm off to a bad start." Uno thought out loud, as he ended his turn. "The start is only the start, Uno. Everyone has a beginning." Veronica started to muse while her sister entered the draw phase. "We have seen many stories, many battles where the warriors thought the outcome was predictable, inevitable. It never was and they never learned."

Cloe placed another monster face-down and activated a spell card. "Ghostrick Museum." It was a field spell that changed the layout of not just the table, but the entire mansion. The bookcases became glass cases, and statues of classic monsters appeared in various galleries. "Oh boy." Uno saw which way the wind was gonna blow. Veronica layed it out for him anyway. "As long as we control Ghostrick Museum and nothing in your monster zone is face-up, our monsters can attack you.. directly." They started the battle phase and Cloe slammed her hand on the table. "Ghostrick Jiangshi, that was the monster I set." The field trembled as Ghostrick Go-Round reactivated. Jiangshi, the vampire ghost(1/400/1800) with a paper talisman on its face, was flipped face-up and his flip effect triggered. "Jiangshi can add one Ghostrick to our hand, if its level is less than or equal to the number of Ghostrick monsters we control." They controlled two Ghostricks, meaning Cloe could take the level 1 Ghostrick Lantern from her deck. "Now, to actually battle in this battle phase." The Jiangshi zombie and Jack Frost ghost shuffled across the flat table to pummel Uno with black firebolts and snow blasts. "One more thing you probably know. The Museum resets any monster that used it to attack directly." Veronica said as Jiangshi and Jack Frost were flipped face-down again. "That was our turn two."

Uno's LP: 6800

"Was it? Could have been worse." Uno said, carefully. The Ghostrick deck was not as harmless as it made itself appear. He had to break free somehow. The problem lied with his own defending monsters. Silver Claw could not be put back into attack mode manually, neither could Secondonkey. "Time for some fresh blood! I summon Performapal Turn Toad." A green toad(2/0/800) in a blue suit hopped down onto one of the monsterzones. "I will talk about his power later. First I flip summon Bowhopper!" Uno's green insect pal(1500/1000) had only been affected by the Ghostrick Go-Round trap, which _did_ allow reflips. "This is your time to shine Hopper! You can tribute one Performapal to inflict damage!" The Bowhopper could sacrifice his fellow performers whether they were face-up or face-down. "Fire!" So Uno loaded the catapult with the set Silver Claw and launched it away. "Its level is 4, so that means your lose 400 lifepoints!" The wolf bounced off of Cloe's hat. It was only a minor hit after all. "That was inventive.."

Cloe's LP: 7600

"Oh there is much more to come! For my next trick.. I will pendulum summon Performapal Silver Claw!" The pendulum wolf had gone to the extra deck after its catapult-induced demise, so the Pendulum Sorcerer and Fire Lion could resummon it(1800/700) to Uno's field. Again a Performapal had been pendulum summoned, again the Sorcerer used his spell effect to energize Bowhopper(2500/1000), Turn Toad(1000/800) and Silver Claw(2800/700). "Say, that field spell works on both players doesnt it?" The Ghostrick Museum prevented attacks on face-down monsters, but since all she controlled were face-down monsters. Uno could attack directly! "Let's try that!" Like last turn, the wolf would lead the battle, adding 300 attackpoints to himself(3100/700) and his companions. "History repeats itself." Veronica and Cloe countered with their continuous trap. Ghostrick Go-Round flipped Ghostrick Jiangshi to attack position, using its effect to add another level 1 Ghostrick monster (Ghostrick Specter) to the sisters hands.

And then the trap flipped Turn Toad to defense position. "Not a fan of the toad, I see." Turn Toad could flip monsters back into face-up attack mode during the battle phase. Uno had planned to use it to reverse flips done to his monster but Turntoad could not use this power on himself. He _could_ use it on someone else before he went under. "In that case. I turn Secondonkey!" The donkey(2000/1000) was flipped face-up. Turntoads effect had the added benefit of switching the targeted monsters attack and defense points for that turn. In the mean time Silver Claws redirected his attack towards Jiangshi. "Not as such, no." Cloe activated another monster effect from her hand, that of Ghostrick Lantern. "You attacked my Ghostrick, so you invoked this monsters effect." The jack-o-lantern ghost shot flames from his lantern that scared Silver Claw away. "Lantern negates an attack against another Ghostrick, and then he summons himself.. face-down." The Ghostrick hid itself next to the face-down Jack Frost. "You two are just full of surprises. But no matter, I will keep coming! Bowhopper, you are up next!" The insect(2900/1000) fired a direct shot at Jiangshi and succesfully managed to destroy the tiny vampire ghost.

Cloe's LP: 5200

"..You awakened Ghostrick Specter." Now a bedsheet ghost popped up in the Jiangshi's old spot. "Upon the death of a Ghostrick, Specter sets itself from the hand to the field and draws one card for us." Veronica said, as she pulled a card from the deck and gave it to Cloe. "Another face-down? Well if nobody is watching.. Then they wont mind and attack from Secondonkey!" Witrh the help of Ghostrick Museum, the performapal mule walked across Cloe's set monsters and gave the youngest sister a kick with his tiny legs. "Now that is a turn I can be happy with." As he ended the turn, Ghostrick Museum forced Secondonkey into face-down defense position.

Cloe's LP: 3200

"You did enjoy yourself. You were not affraid of what was to come. But then you never were..." The sister in white said, while she drew her card. "The past has always been your fear." Cloe placed one monster face-down. Veronica took over. "We flip summon our other monsters." Ghostricks Jack Frost, Lantern(1/800/0) and Specter(1/600/0) were put in attack position. "And we overlay two of them. To XYZ-summon Ghostrick Dullahan." It was finally time to bring out the XYZ-monsters. Specter and Jack Frost were attached to another famous ghost, the headless horseman Ghostrick Dullahan(1/1000/0). "Ghostrick Dullahan gains 200 attackpoints for each Ghostrick on the field." A trap, a field spell, and two monsters cards powered Dullahan(1800/0) up. Now that the battle could begin Cloe took back control. "You have forgotten many things, many stories. You are not alone, everyone has forgotten something." Ghostrick Go-Round targeted her new monster, flipping it to reveal a zombie inspired by the famous frankenstein story, Ghostrick Stein(3/1600/0). On the other end of the table, Performapal Silver Claw(1800/700) was put down in defense mode. "Like everyone else, you did not recognize these cards as anything but cards."

"I know those cards are based on stories. I just never read them!" Uno was telling the truth, as far as he knew. Stein and Dullahan looked familiar, yet he was not sure if that was because of their nature as cards or their background inspiration. "But they werent always 'stories'. You lost yours, and you are not the only one." Cloe detached one material from Dullahan. Dullahans second effect halved the attackpoints of another monster on the field, Bowhopper(750/1000) would be it victim. "And stories are not everything you stand to lose." Dullahan created a skull of flames in its hands and hurled it towards the grasshopper, burning it down until only ashes remained. "Not everything?" Uno looked at his field. His three remaining monsters were all face-down, alive but helpless. "The one whose forgot his stories, is the one who died." Cloe ordered her other monsters to attack directly. Ghostrick Stein and Lantern raced across the Museum and assailed Uno with flameballs and punched. "Ugh." Even such little creatures caused a lot of pain.

Uno's LP: 3150

"When Stein inflicts damage, a Ghostrick spell or trap can be taken from the deck." Veronica pulled a trap card; Ghostrick Nights. "We set this." She handed it to her sister, who placed it down in the spell/trap zone, along with another trap card. "That was our turn." During the endphase, Ghostrick Museum switched Lantern and Stein back to face-down defense position, so Ghostrick Dullahan had to surrender some of its(1600/0) power. "But that was not our last move." Cloe was quick to point out, as her new trap was put into effect as soon as Uno entered the standby phase of his turn. "Ghostrick Night! While we control a Ghostrick monster, you can not flip summon your monsters."

"That's no fun." Uno was in a bind now. Between Ghostrick Go-Round and Ghostrick Museum, he would lose all his lifepoints next turn if he did not break this lock. But he did not have high enough scales to summon the monster in his hand, and no pendulum monsters in the extra deck. There was just one solution; something he had not done in a long time. "Then..I sacrifice my face-down Silver Claw, to summon Performapal Springoose!" He would perform a tribute summon. The wolf gave his zone to a dapper goose(5/1100/2400) with a spring for a torso. "And to follow that up, here is the spell card; Pendulum Rising! Springoose leaves the stage to bring in a pendulum monster of the same level!" The spell sent the goose to the graveyard and special summoned Performapal Drummerilla(5/1600/900) from the main deck.

"Cloe, Veronica. You know I don't see my cards as just cards. They're part of a greater show; each Performapal has a role.. even those I tribute." Springoose's effect was one that could only be activated from its grave. "Springoose, banish yourself and return 2 Performapals on the field to my hand!" Two steel springs 'sprung up' from the table and ejected Pendulum Sorcerer and Turn Toad from the field. Springoose could target Performapals whether they were face-down or in the pendulum zone. "I will set Turn Toad in the right zone now!" Instead of a scale 2 wizard, there was now a scale 3 amphibian paired up with the scale 5 Fire Lion. A wider range was not needed. "You saw the Toads monster effect, now enjoy his spell effect! Turn Toad switches any face-up monsters attack and defense points!" The toad showered Ghostrick Dullahan(0/2200) with bright stars. "I think we can start the main event now. Pendulum summon!" Uno special summoned Silver Claw(1800/700) from the extra deck and Pendulum Sorcerer(4/1500/800) from his hand.

Because Pendulum Sorcerer had been special summoned, its monster effect could also be demonstrated. "Sorcerer, make my cards disappear and re-appear as Performapals!" The wizard destroyed the face-down Secondonkey and the pendulum-zoned Turn Toad. For this price, Uno could draw two Performapal monsters from his deck. "Here we go!" Another battle phase was underway. "And again and again." Naturally, Cloe put the brakes on Silver Claw before it could even move one step. Ghostrick Go-Round flipped that monster down and put Ghostrick Stein in attack position. "I am gonna try it as many times as I can, Cloe!" Drummerilla attacked next, pumping up his(2200/900) own attackpoints with his drumbeat effect. It and the Pendulum Sorcerer attacked Ghostrick Stein and Dullahan respectively, destroying them both. "And I am almost there!"

Cloe's LP: 1100

"And that has always been your flaw, Uno. You never wondered about the time that remained." Cloe responded harshly, as she used Dullahans final effect. If the XYZ-monster was destroyed, it would return a Ghostrick card from the graveyard to the players hand. Veronica grabbed Ghostrick Jack Frost and gave it to her sister. "And now your actions lead to more hauntings from the past." In the same chain, a trap card was activated. "Ghostrick Break. It sets two of our dead monsters on the field again when a Ghostrick monster breaks." The trap summoned Ghostricks Jiangshi and Yuki-Onna back from the graveyard, in face-down position. "Is this about that bad something that was gonna happen in the future, that you talked about last time?" Uno knew he could not get any more answers yet he asked anyway. "Is.." He found the answer on his own anyway. "Is time passing right now?" Nothing followed the physical laws in this place. Still, Uno could not imagine that time was stopped while he was here. And then he realized what else he could lose. "What is happening to Alice and the others?"

...,,,,,,,,,

"Ah?" Alice got startled by an unexpected blackout. The lamps in and outside the office powered down. The only light now came from the city skyline beyond the office windows, for the rest there was only darkness. "Emily? Is that you!?" She heard the sound of footsteps on the other side of the door. "Who is there?" It was not the soft shuffling sound that her sister usually made. "Who are you?" A man she did not know walked inside. He did not have the appearance of a dreamworld employee. "A friend.. of Uno." Said December with his booming voice. "I am here to take him home."

(To be Continued in Annex 064: Trinity)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Turn Toad  
Performapal Springoose

-  
Pendulum Rising

 **Cards used by Cloe and Veronica  
** Ghostrick Yuki-Onna  
Ghostrick Jack Frost  
Ghostrick Jiangshi  
Ghostrick Lantern  
Ghostrick Specter  
Ghostrick Stein

-  
Ghostrick Dullahan

-  
Ghostrick Museum

-  
Ghostrick Go-Round  
Ghostrick Night  
Ghostrick Break


	64. Trinity

**Annex 064: Trinity**

"A friend of Uno?" From the very first word, Alice knew that there was something wrong with December. "If you're his friend, then you should know his real name, right?" She didn't know him, yet her gut was telling her to not believe his words. "..." December actually appeared to be mildly stunned that she did not just take him at his word. "The pendulum." He noticed the crystal around Uno's neck. "We are the same. That is what matters." December put his hand through his hair, revealing a diadem that held a green jewel. "You're one of those!" Of course Alice recognized it. It was the same jewel as in Uno's pendant and Neters armbands. He was one of the Four. "So is he, when he should not be. He _has to_ answer to us." He took his first step into the room. "But..but.. he's not awake! He's hurt! He cant tell you anything!" She tried to protest in various ways. "Not important." December kept on walking. "But he doesn't want go!" She yelled again. "He has no choice, he does not belong here." He did not listen.

So Alice grabbed her dueldisk. " _I_ don't want him to go!"

"..." December stopped. She had not officially challenged him yet, but if she did, he would have to respond. "What you want? Do you understand the consequences of this desire?" What he did next he did without any physical movement. "Ah.." The air in the room got heavier with every passing second. The whole tower trembled and the glass seemed like it could break at any moment. " _My_ desire does not include harming innocents. Yet if any stand in my way, I will use all of this power to remove them. You can not win, there is no point. Move." This was his force; his willpower was like a physical presence. The pressure weighed on her. "But.." There was a lump in her throat, her hands clammy and her legs were numb. She wanted to run to get away from this man. He would let her, he was not lying about that. Yet.. "I.." Alice looked at Uno again. He could not fight for himself. They would take him and he would never return. "N-No!" She didn't want that and that feeling was stronger than all the others. "He's staying here!" She activated the disk and placed her cards inside.

Alice's LP: 8000 Decembers LP: 8000

"So be it. I hold no responsibility for what follows." December turned on his device and drew his cards. "My turn is first." He predicted one second before the disks themselves actually have him the first turn. "Dark Contract with the Gate." He opened with his continuous spell. Through this contract he could add a D/D monster from his deck to his hand. He used it for a D/D Swirl Slime card. "D/D monsters?" Now Alice was in unfamiliar territory. There was no telling what would happen next. "D/D Swirl Slime, D/D Cerberus, combine.." He activated a monster effect from his hand. "Huh? Fusion! Is that what they're for?" Alice saw a one-eyed slime fiend merge with a threeheaded hellhound. D/D Swirl Slime could fuse monsters in a players hand to create D/D/D fusion monsters. "Be reborn, D/D/D Oracle King D'arc!" Two D/D monsters were required for this fusion monster. They formed a devil in silver armor, the fallen knight D'Arc(8/2800/2000). With that done, December focused on his backrow. He placed two traps down and ended the turn.

 _"Okay. Okay.. please slow down."_ Just the presence of that one monster sent her heart into overdrive. The Oracle King was there and she was made of flesh and blood _. "It's not so scary. It isn't. He uses fusion monsters. My deck is good against this."_ She had her Nekroz, she could overcome this. The monsters might be real, but the rules were those of a game. "I.. summon Manju!" She called out the tenthousand handed Manju god(4/1400/1000) and used its effect to add a ritual monster from her deck to her hand. "I take Nekroz of Clausolas. And I will use him! If I discard him, I can get a Nekroz spell card." Alice traded the level 3 ritual monster for the Nekroz Cycle ritual spell card in her deck. "And.. I will play it... Nekroz Cycle!" The ritual commenced. The sacrifice was the level 3 Ritual Djinn Releaser in Alice's hand. The monster it would summon was already in the graveyard. "I'm ritual summoning Nekroz of Clausolas!" A red and white-haired boy warrior(3/1200/2300) jumped into his new mistbird armor, made from the remnants of the original Clausolas. "He can take away a monsters attackpoints and effects for one turn, if it was summoned from the extra deck!" Nekroz of Clausolas brought about off a vortex of green winds. The storm encircled D'arc and drained all of her(0/2000) powers away. "Then I will.. attack!" The ritual warrior took out his feather-blade and flew towards his prey inside the violent winds.

".. Dark Contract with the Witch." That was when December did what Alice feared he would do, use one of his trap cards. It was a continuous trap that added 1000 attackpoints to all D/D monsters during the opponents battlephase. However that was merely its weakest ability. By discarding a Dark Contract or D/D-card, the Witch could destroy any one card on the field. "Perish, Nekroz of Clausolas." December sent a D/D Lilith from his hand to the graveyard to satisfy the contract. Witches on black wings ambushed Clausolas in mid-air and tore him to pieces. "Aaahh!" It was not a pleasant sight, even if its death was swift. "I.." That was as far as Alice had plotted out her turn. Now she had nothing. "I set a card." At best she could defend herself with one of her traps on the next turn. This turn would lead nowhere.

"..." With the new turn came the return of the D/D/D Oracle(2800/2000)'s attackpoints and effects, as she broke free from the vortex. That was just in time for December, as the Dark Contracts would claim their toll during the standby phase. "Hey.. What is..happening to you?" Alice could not help but notice that her opponent was reaching for his chest, as if he was in pain. "The contracts, they shorten ones life energy. Each turn they will take 1000 lifepoints away." December gathered the now visible negative energy in the palm of his hand, the spell and trap card together inflicted 2000 points of damage. "However, the Oracles sees all and prevents all." He threw the energy away, allowing D'arc to catch it with her claws. "The Oracle King turns pain to pleasure!" Instead of losing the lifepoints, December gained 2000 lifepoints. "Oh!" And then, once the main phase rolled by, the D/D duelist put the Dark Contracts to use again. With the Witch's Contract he destroyed Alice's face-down trap, Vanity's Emptyness. With the Gate's Contract, he added a D/D Night Howl monster from his deck to his hand.

Decembers LP: 10000

"Be born, D/D Night Howl." That was the monster he normal summoned. It(3/300/600) was little more than a gaping maw with rows and rows of sharp teeth inside and two eyestalks on top. "Be reborn, D/D Lilith." The effect of Night Howl was one that special summoned level 4 or lower D/D monsters from the players graveyard, with their attack and defense reduced to zero. D/D Lilith, a winged red demoness(4/0/0) with the lower body of a segmented snake, was chosen in this case. "And return D/D Cerberus to me." Lilith had her own ability. Once a turn she placed D/D monsters back in a duelists hand, whenever she was normal or special summoned. The previously fused Cerberus was taken from the graveyard. "Now, harmonize!" But possibly the most astounding of all, was the simple fact that D/D Night Howl was a tuner monster. "Ah? You have synchro monsters too?" Alice said out loud as the Howler synchronized with Lilith. Their seven stars formed a majestic warrior king(7/2500/2000) with an emerald-green cape billowing in the wind. "You have come, D/D/D Gust King Alexander!"

And the duelist was still not finished. "Banish yourself, Swirl Slime. Then show yourself, Cerberus." The D/D slime had a secondary power, t could summon D/D monsters from the players hand all the way from the graveyard. Though it banished its own remains to do so. Now the threeheaded pendulum beast(4/1800/600) materialized by itself. "Is it.. No, it isn't?" Alice watched as yet another monster was special summoned. "Alexander, choose your servant!" This was the doing of the Synchro D/D/D. Gust King Alexander could special summon level 4 or lower D/D monsters from the graveyard whenever a D/D monster was special summoned. D/D Lilith(4/100/2100) was reborn, now in her fully powered form. "Equalize, Lilith and Cerberus!" Then came the final shock. December placed the two level 4 monsters on top of each other to XYZ-summon as a rank 4 XYZ-monster. "No way.." On any other day, she would have marveled at this sight, fusions, synchro and XYZ on the field all at once. Now she could only despair. "Come, D/D/D Wave King Caesar!" The dark knight emperor(4/2400/1200), wielding a massive sword, cut a path open in its own creation portal to step down into the room.

"...!" A fierce glow emanated from Decembers eyes as he extended his hand towards his opponent. "Kyah!" Alice was attacked by all three monsters. The Synchro king unleashed his cutting gales to eliminate Manju the Ten Thousand Hands, the XYZ-emperor created real tidal waves of water and the Fusion Oracle blasted the room with bolts of lightning. "Ha..aaaah!" Though none of that energy touched her body, the sheer tension of all three elements was enough to drop her to one knee. "What..was..that?" Real monsters, real agony. This felt worse than anything the XYZ-Guild had done to her. "That was just the tip. I see no need to cause further injury. But your fate is unchanged, you will lose. If you do not surrender, you will have to live through this power a second time." He gave her his final warning. "No. I can't..." Alice did not have much energy for words, but her intention was crystal clear. "You choose suffering, for him? You do not know him, you do know who he used to be. He is not one of you. Why do you wish to save him?"

Alice's LP: 1700

"Because... He is..

"Because I like him!" She blurted out.

"I dont know where he came from or who he used to be, but I know who he is _right now_! He's nice, he's funny, he doesn't want to hurt anybody! He just wants to make people happy! He's like.." Alice stopped herself before she could say more. She had not expected her answer to get this long. "No more. I wont let anything happen to him anymore. You're not the same." Alice started her turn. She drew a monster card, Nekroz of Unicore. _"..I can't..."_ Unfortunately there was no way to ritual summon it or the other ritual monster in her hand, not with the usual ritual spells. _"No, I have to do something! For him."_ There was only one spell that could, one she would normally never use because of its requirements. For this duel, she feared she would have to use it. And she did. "I discard Nekroz of Unicore." The hand effect of the level 4 ritual monster was used to reclaim Nekroz of Clausolas from the graveyard. "I use Nekroz Cycle, so I can get a new Nekroz spell.." Alice activated Nekroz Cycle's second effect to banish the spell and Nekroz of Unicore from the graveyard. She then looked into her deck to find _it_. "Nekroz Kaleidoscope!"

"...?" December clasped his hands together and observed Alice's new card. "I activat this spell! I can sacrifice a monster.. in my extra deck, to ritual summon Nekroz monsters from my hand if their combined levels are the same of the extra deck monster!" A monster was dragged out of the extra deck, a fusion monster. "Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is the sacrifice!" Uno's fusion monster. "Pendulum dragon." The eyes of her opponent widened briefly. "It's a level 8 card; I can summon both Nekroz of Clausolas and Nekroz of Catastor!" The feathered warior(3/1200/2300) and the dragonic slasher(5/2200/1200) emerged from her hand and crossed through the kaleidoscope. "I always hated them; fusions, synchros, XYZs. But I will use even them, if I can help a friend that way!" Alice then normal summoned the Great Sorcerer of Nekroz(4/1500/800), completing her legion. "I will attack them all too!"

She entered the battle phase. Dark Contract of the Witch would not stop her since December had no cards to discard anymore. The continuous trap did power up all three of the D/D/D monsters, but that did not matter as Nekroz of Catastor gave every Nekroz on the field the ability to slay extra deck monsters regardless of their defense or attackpoints. The Sorcerer and Clausolas both destroyed Oracle King D'Arc and Gust King Alexander this way. Catastor on the other hand impaled Wave King Caesar with his own claws, after Clausolas had robbed the emperor(1000/1200) of all his original attackpoints with its effect. The death of the three Kings released a violent burst of elements across the room. The glass windows had taken all they could and they shattered loudly. The cold wind outside blew away all the smoke. "Wh-wh-what?" And three figures walked out of the smoke. Alexander, D'Arc and Caesar(2400/1200) were all restored to their original glory. "But I destroyed them, I know I did! I hit you!"

Decembers LP: 8800

December had the damage to show it, and monsters had been destroyed. "I do not allow _my_ Kings to stay dead. Wave King Caesar detached one XYZ-material before its demise, so that all destroyed monsters return to the field at the end of the battle. The next turn, Caesar will demand 1000 lifepoints during for each rebirth." He had chained this power to the effect of Nekroz of Clausolas, so that it could be used before Ceasars effects were all sealed. "No.." Alice could not believe she hadn't noticed. She hadn't been paying attention. "I.. ." That attack had barely hurt him, and he would recover 5000 lifepoints now on his next turn when the Oracle King converted the damage from Caesar and the Dark Contracts into healing energy. "I..set a card." Her turn was already as a good as done, setting another trap was the only thing left to do. "And I end my turn.. but.." In spite of all these setbacks, she had held on to one trick in her sleeve. "I can use Clausolas' power during your turn too!" The flying ritual warrior reawakened the vortex and captured the fusion D/D/D(0/2000). "D'Arcs powers are negated! So you're not getting any lifepoints back this time!"

"You're still going. Stop." December was neither impressed nor unprepared. He flipped his other trap card, Contract Laundering. "Nothing will change." He even activated the effect of the Witch's Contract during the same standby phase. One card was discarded and the witches destroyed another card; Nekroz of Catastor. "Nothing has." After that, Contract Laundering resolved. The normal trap sacrificed the two Dark Contract cards before they could inflict damage to December. "Huh?" Contract Laundering gave December 1000 lifepoints and one new card for each Dark Contract that was sent to the graveyard. December drew the top two cards from his deck. "I can't.." December still took the 3000 points of damage from Caesars effect, but it hardly mattered anymore. "I can't win this." He was too strong; in a class of his own. Nobody could top that.

Decembers LP: 7800

And more bad news arrived. "Hey! December is dueling too!" Neter, June and August dropped in from the aether. "They were here too?" One was too much already, four would be impossible. "Hello Alice. We met your friends, they fought bravely until the end. Don't worry, I only put them to sleep afterwards." The woman of the group told her. "What? You dueled them?" Alice did not even know that that had been going on upstairs. Apparently the three won very quickly at that. "They were the ones who made the mistake of challenging us. December, I thought you were going to make this extraction quick? You lecture me when I engage in pointless duels and now you're dueling this girl?" August said with a growl. "Our powers do not work on her. The pendulum protects those who touched it recently, which she has done." December was 'kind' enough to justify the matter for his companion. "Is that the reason? I think there must be something more.. The same thing happened at the castle, her and her friends saw right through the mind filter.." June had her own interpretation. "Discussing this further is pointless." December decreed as he entered the battle phase. Wave King Caesar drowned Nekroz of Clausolas with the forces of the sea.

Alice's LP: 500

"Oh. Okay. What can we do? Should we help ya? Or carry Uno out while you keep playing?" Neter excitedly requested more orders. "There is no need. This duel has ended." The Gust King Alexander brandished his sword. One more attack now would inflict enough battle damage to put this duel to rest. He was not falling for her bluff; her trap was not something that could save her now. The Synchro King was an inch away from cleaving right through the Great Sorcerer of Nekroz. "No. Nononono .." They knew it. Alice knew it. This duel had been futile from turn one. _"Uno._ " And she was scared. She was scared of the pain but more so of losing a friend. _"I thought I could save you..."_ She wanted to give up, she wanted to run away. There was nothing else she could do yet the thought of failing Uno made her sick. It was too late either way.

"Performapal Barrier Balloon Tapir!"

"Huh?" But something besides her monster was cut down by the Synchro Kings sword; a purple tapir that popped like a balloon. "A Performapal?.. Uno!" Alice turned around and saw Uno getting up , activating the Tapir card from his hand. As he got up, a wave of light escaped his pendulum. "If a monster on my field battles an opponent's monster: I can discard the Balloon Tapir and neither player takes any battle damage from that battle!" He had drawn six cards and joined the duel as Alice's teammate, That was why he could save her lifepoints with his Performapal, even though her Nekroz Sorcerer was slain. They were his lifepoints now too. "You're awake! You're better! Uno. How did you." Alice couldn't believe her eyes. Neither could August and the others. "How did you reawaken? You damaged your pendulum, you could not have repaired it." The crystal had fixed itself before their very eyes, something they had always deemed to be impossible. "December, is it?" Uno read the name that his dueldisk gave. "I guess you are the leader of this group. Well... I had help. Let me show you what I mean!"

Alice and Uno's LP: 500

(To be Continued in Annex 065: The Day that Never Ends)

 **New Cards used by Alice  
** Nekroz of Clausolas

-  
Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon

-  
Nekroz Kaleidoscope

 **New Cards used by December  
** D/D Swirl Slime  
D/D Night Howl  
D/D Lilith  
D/D Cerberus

-  
D/D/D Oracle King D'arc  
D/D/D Gust King Alexander  
D/D/D Wave King Caesar

-  
Dark Contract with the Witch  
Contract Laundering

 **New Cards used by Uno**  
Performapal Barrier Balloon Tapir


	65. The Day that Never Ends

**Annex 065: They Day that Never Ends**

Cloe's LP: 1100 Uno's LP: 3150

A few minutes earlier, while his friends were out there in the physical world dueling December and the other travelers, Uno was still trapped with the Prophecy Sisters. "Just tell me! Forget your rules for a second!" These ladies knew everything he didn't. And rigght now he had to know what was going on outside his head. "This story has been told many times. They do not have much time left." Cloe "simply chided him for his impudence. "The future is not infinite, not yours, not theirs. This story will end, a new story begins. Only we remember." Veronica did not give an answer either, naturally. It looked like the only way he was going to get anything was by finishing what he was doing right now. "Fine." Uno activated his spell, Performapal Recasting. "I draw three cards!" The recast spell sent the two Performapal cards in his hand back to his deck, and then drew one card for each 'recast' Performapal, plus one. Then he placed two of those three cards down in the spell/trap zone. "Your turn!"

"Now you finally realize that you can not afford to wait for the future or wait on the past. You run from one to the other. You are going in the wrong direction." The middle sister gave another speech as her younger sibling drew her cards. Thankfully she was not dragging out her actions much. Cloe flip summoned two of her face-downs; Ghostrick Jiangshi(3/300/1800) and Ghostrick Yuki-Onna(2/1000/800). "I flip summoned Jiangshi.." The vampire ghosts flip effect helped Cloe out again, as it put another formerly decked Ghostrick monster in her hand. "What I took was.. Ghostrick Mummy." She summoned a muscular mummy-monster(3/1500/0), who carried a pocket-sized witch(2/1200/200) on his shoulder. "When the Mummy is normal summoned, another Ghostrick can be normal summoned. Her name is Ghostrick Witch, and her power.." The blonde witch smacked Uno's other monster, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer(4/1500/1000) with her broom. "Switches your pal." The witch's effect shuffled the Sorcerer into face-down defense position as well. "That said, if you fail now that doesn't make it an ending. Margot says that you may try again and again, to overpower the XYZ-force. _We_ have all the time in the world." Veronica spoke as if their victory was already assured. "..." Uno could hardly protest if these sisters could really see the future.

"Let us skip stage two." She said as Cloe overlayed Ghostrick Mummy and Jiangshi. "Another XYZ-monster.." This time the sisters went for rank 3. The vampire ghost and creature of science combined to create a majestic vampire(3/1800/1600) with a bloodred cloak and a pale face like white fire. "Ghostrick Alucard. It detaches one card to destroy one set card." The vampire sucked up one of its XYZ-materials through its mouth and spat out a stream of blood. It was not Uno's monsters that she was after though. The blood splattered over Uno's left trap card, Performapall Call, and broke it down. One trap and one face-up monster remained. "That was the main phase." Cloe moved into the battle phase and hit the table with her fist. Ghostrick Go-Round flipped her last face-down monster, Ghostrick Lantern(1/800/0) face-up. Due to its status as a Ghostrick monster, one of Uno's monsters would now be flipped face-down by the continous trap. Performapal Drummerilla(5/1600/900) was the unfortunate flipped victim. "Ugh." With Ghostrick Museum on the field and no face-up monsters to defend him, there were going to be a lot of direct attacks this turn.

Unless he could help it. "Trap card!" He made his countermove when the first attack was declared. "Pendulum Reborn!" Right as Ghostrick Witch made his pass at Uno, his Pendulum trap special summoned a Pendulum monster from the extra deck in defense position. There was only one in there and only one he needed, Performapal Turn Toad(2/0/800). "Go!" The toad hopped down in front of the Ghostricks. The Witch let out a yell and smacked the monster with her broom to destroy it. Luckily that was not Uno's only resort "Now I can activate Fire Mufflerlions effect!" Uno took the lion from its pendulum zone. "If he is set as a spell card, he can summon himself as a monster when another Pendulum monster is destroyed!" The circus lion(3/800/800) with the mane of fire was special summoned in defense mode, just in time to intercept Ghostrick Alucard. Instead of the duelist, the vampire sucked the life from the Mufflerlion. "Maybe I am not good at predictions, but one thing you cannot tell me is when my show ends!" He had stopped half of the direct attacks now. Ghostrick Lantern and Yuki-Onna also attacked, but Uno could handle their lantern flames and snow crystals. "Everything has to end sometime, but I am going to have fun while it lasts!"

Uno's LP: 1350

"Those are the words of someone who appreciates the present and denies everything else." The two sisters continued with the turn after all battles had played out. Ghostrick Witch could, like most Ghostrick monsters, switch herself to face-down defense position. Ghostrick Lantern and Yuki-Onna were flipped by Ghostrick Museum, as the two had inflicted direct damage this turn. "Denial is only the first step towards acceptance." They passed the turn to Uno. And when they did, they flipped their trap: Spirit Barrier. the card would cancel battle damage done to them as long as they controlled monsters; whether they were face-up or down. "Hey! Denying my past was not my idea! Someone took it from me, and I know who!" He vehemently resisted their deconstruction of his amnesia. "You think you do, but you don't." Veronica in turn rejected his claim. "What? You know who did it?" They had to be aware of what they were saying. _"If only I had a fourth question.. Maybe that is that their game, to keep me here? They're trying to butter me up with tasty bits of information. "_

He could not afford distractions. He had to win, and soon. The question was how? If it werent for the Ghostrick Jack Frost card in Cloe's hand, he could have tried to employ another direct attack strategy. _"Alright, deck, what is your offer?"_ Uno pulled the card that waited for him. Maybe, just maybe, luck had been kind to him when he shuffled his deck last turn. "I...Set the scale, Performapal Monkeyboard!" It had been very kind. "Hit it, Monkeyboard!" The monkey in a purple tuxedo started playing the piano keys in its teeth. "When I activate him, he can call for another Performapal to assist me!" Uno searched his deck again and grabbed Performapal Lizardraw. "The second scale!" The orange lizard jumped into the other pendulum zone. Uno was flanked by a scale 1 and a scale 6 pendulum monster. "Pendulum! Summon!" He special summoned Fire Mufflerlion and TurnToad from the extra deck. "Perhaps I do need to have some trust in the future. So let's try this again! I tribute Lizardraw to draw one more card!" The lizard used its own effect to exchange its life for the card on the top of the deck.

And that card was a spell."...Oh, another stroke of fortune. I guess this means Margot likes me the most eh?" Uno chuckled. He happily activated his spell card. "Here is my answer, Performance Hurricane! For each Performapal monster on my field, this spell will return a card to players hand!" The magic number was two. The Hurricane targeted both of Cloe's traps; Ghostrick Night and Spirit Barrier. "But I think you can tell how this will go on your own." With Ghostrick Night destroyed, Uno could flip summon whomever he wanted. "Get them boys!" He flipped his Performapals; Silver Claw(4/1800/700), Drummerilla and Pendulum Sorcerer. "Let's make some music!" The silver wolf and the drumming gorilla performed the first strike. Drummerilla's effect added 600 attackpoints to Silver Claw(2400/700), while Silver Claw added 300 attackpoints to itself and to all other monsters. Cloe took no measures to save her XYZ-monster. The wolf clawed right through Alucard the vampire prince. "The immortal dies." Like Dullahan, this XYZ-Ghostrick had a monster retrieval effect that activated upon its death. Veronica chose Ghostrick Specter. "Nothing lasts forever out there, not even those who say they do."

Cloe's LP: 500

"And here is different?" They kept talking as if they were immortal, as if they really did have time on their side. "But... I like it out there more!" Uno shook his head. He had already won, they were just going through the motions to keep him here for as long as possible. "So this _has_ to end. Not that I didn't have fun.." With three face-down monsters and Ghostrick Museum as the field, Drumerilla could make a direct attack. "I made my choice four turns ago." Cloe activated Ghostrick Jack Frost from her hand to switch the attacking gorilla to face-down defense position and to set the snowman on her field. It hardly mattered anymore. "I choose the future, the real world!" Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer made the third attack, creating a ball of magic with his hands which he tossed all the way to the other end of the table. "So you can stop trying to talk me into staying here!" The blast exploded before Cloe and Veronica's faces.

Cloe's LP: 0

"Oof! Wh.." The results of his win made themselves apparent within seconds. A surge of energy rushed through Uno's body, from his chest to his head and arms. "Hey.." He was overjoyed to see why; Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon had come back. The card glowed on the top of his deck. "You have succeeded. Your Pendulum has seen your battle against the power of XYZ and accepted you as its master again." Cloe spoke with an almost gratified tone of voice. Her older sister was equally pleased. "This is another step of your evolution. You have something new to show for it." Uno checked his deck again, and to his surprise he saw several new cards that had not been there before. Those cards werent Doms. "Who keeps sending me these?" Rune-Eyes, Beast-Eyes, Pendulum Call; the list went on. He would find out why, with or without the help of prophecies. "That is a question for the next time." Veronica said. "Another time? So we will meet again? I thought you could only see the... ?!"

Uno swallowed his words. "We can't. We just said what Margot wanted to say." The third sister had gotten up, her back was still turned to him. She did not speak or move. In fact Uno had not seen her make a motion even once. "I.." The mansion suddenly was so very small and cramped. Bright light came in from the windows on the second floor, separating them from the darkness. He was alone with her, the past and present had disappeared. In that moment he could swear he saw her face slowly turn around, as all colors and sounds were distorted into a painful screams. He did not want to see her face..

...

That was when he woke up, like the last few hours had only been a nightmare. Time slowed down for his senses, as he adjusted back to a world of physical constraints. He noticed his surroundings, and the people that were with him. Instantly he realized what had been going on. He was inside Dreamworlds tower, not in a world of dreams. June and the others like her had come for him here and kind little Alice had tried to defend him all by herself. It was a feeling of enlightenment. Perhaps this was a gift of the sisters to prepare him for his awakening? Or perhaps his mind had already taken in the details that took place around him, while his subconscious floated around in that mansion outside of time. Regardless, Uno knew exactly what to do. He activated his dueldisk, drew his cards and intercepted Decembers fatal blow before it could take away Alice's lifepoints. He went from one duel to another and there came the cries of joy and wonder and the questions from the enemy. He was back in the present. This was his choice, and he did not regret it.

Alice and Uno's LP: 500 Decembers LP: 7800

"It's my turn!" Uno could have asked anything but first he wanted to make sure that Alice was safe. Answers were not more important than his friends. "Alice. You are gonna love this.." Uno drew a new card. "Set the scales, Wisdom-Eye Magician and Xiangsheng Magician!" In one pendulum zone he placed the insightful mage. "Oooh! That's a new one!" In the other zone was a magician that neither Neter nor the rest of the world had seen in the days before. It was a female magic archer, dressed in billowing robes and wearing an eyepatch on the right eye.

"You! Who gave you those pendulum cards?" August demanded the truth. The provider could not have been Dom. "I don't know. Who gave you yours? Maybe that's the answer." Uno was not blind. He could see that this December person had a Pendulum monster in his graveyard. It was typical for these duelists, it did not shock him. "Maybe it's the cards themselves? Let me get another one!" Uno activated Wisdom-Eye Magicians effect and sacrificed it so that it could set a new Magician in the pendulum zone. "Xiangke Magician!" The empty pillar of light was taken up by the male counterpart of Xiangsheng, the knight in green with long blue hair. _"Three and eight."_ Alice counted their scales. They were not as ranged as Timegazer and Stargazer, but they were perfect for this situation. "Pendulum summon!" Uno special summoned Wisdom-Eye Magician(4/1500/1500) from the extra deck along with Performapal Skeeterskimmer(4/500/1600) and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000) from the hand. "And now, XYZ-summon!" It was time to find out just how much his duel with the sisters payed off. He overlayed the Skimmer insect with the Wisdom mage, and created Dark Rebellion XYZ-Dragon(4/2500/2000)

"That's Doms dragon.." This was the first time Alice saw the black dragon in solid form, looking many times more terrifying than it did as a card. "He has XYZ-monsters now too?" Neter gasped. "Yet this one he did get from Dom. Though Dom was not the one who first made it." June recalled the story about the three codes and the three dragons. That story seemed to have relevance after all. "..Uno? Is everything okay?" Alice noticed that Uno going quiet while everyone else did the talking. He was staring down at his own crystal. "Better than okay." Nothing happened this time, the pendulum did not act up. The two dragons tolerated each others presence. "I activate Dark Rebellions effect!" Uno detached two materials from the black dragon, so that it could drain away half of the attackpoints of D/D/D Wave King Ceasar(1200/1200) and give it to itself(4/3700/2000). "Now it's time for step three! Watch closely, these are the powers of my Xiang duo! Xiangsheng can make an XYZ-monsters rank equal to that of a level 5 or higher monster on the field!" Xiangsheng shot her arrow through Odd-Eyes and Dark-Rebellion. Three of the dragons level stars were added to the rank stars of the XYZ-Dragon(7/2500/2000).

"What was the point of that?" August cursed. "Excellent question." . "Xiangke chooses one XYZ-monster I control. The chosen monster can then be used as a material for another XYZ-summon!" The shield fired seven stars into the XYZ-Dragon. "You're gonna XYZ-Summon, with an XYZ-monster?" Alice cried out. "Impossible." December uttered a single word of protest. Not only could cards normally not treat ranks as levels, but also .. he had not foreseen this. "Everything is impossible, until it isn't! Haha!" Uno went through with it. Dark Rebellion was placed on top of Odd-Eyes. "I overlay both dragons, and XYZ-summon a rank 7 monster!" The power of pendulum would share with the power of XYZ. A powerful wave of energy was freed as a result, and it swept across the office. "A pendulum.. XYZ-monster?" The four stood in awe, as a new dragon(7/3000/2500) was born. Not even they had seen a being like this before. Odd-Eyes took the dark armor and scales from Dark Rebellion while spikes on its wings turned into blade-shaped cannons. "Meet Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon."

"It looks.. strong. Is it?" Alice was half affraid and half fascinated with what she was about to see. "I could tell. But I'd rather show." The wings of the dragon split open. Electricity arced down the middle. It was building up for en effect. And that effect struck instantaneously. Two bolts of lightning hit Decembers Fusion and Synchro monster. D/D/D Oracle King D'Arc(7/2800/2000) and D/D/D Gust King Alexander(7/2500/200) were disintegrated by the power of rebellion. "Rebellion Dragon destroys all level 7 or lower monsters when it is XYZ-summoned with an XYZ-monster as the material! For each monster destroyed, it inflicts 1000 points of damage!" The electricity splashes over to December himself, shocking him twice. He visibly winced.

Decembers LP: 5800

"Then Odd-Eyes gets to attack three times!" The XYZ-dragon spread its wings. "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, attack the wave King and his master!" With its first attack, a volley of thunder sparks, Uno's monster blew up the weakened D/D/D XYZ-monster. "Juragedo, to me!" But at this time December activated a monster effect from his hand. A longclawed mutated devil(4/1700/0) was summoned in defense mode. "Juragedo?" This fiend could summon itself during a battle step, and increase a players lifepoints by 1000. Juragedo took the third attack while restoring some of Decembers health. "Of course, you could save yourself. I would have been disappointed if you didn't!" Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon used his other attacks. The second killed Juragedo, the third launched straight into December. "Rgh." He was pushed back by the blow, to the edge of the room. He stopped in front of the shattered windows.

Decembers LP: 2000

"That was.. just like December." Alice shivered. Uno's monster was just as destructive as Decembers D/D/D demons. Yet for some reason, she was not as scared. The opponents were the ones who felt the ripples of dread for the first time in a long time. "Your monsters were not like this before.. Who taught you how to manifest such power? Your thoughts are confusing me." June rarely saw images that she could not comprehend. This was one of those rare times. Uno's mind was too chaotic. "I do have a lot to say, don't I?" Uno sighed. "I'm sorry, Alice. I should have told you about my 'exploits' sooner. I thought people would call me crazy then, but the whole world has gone crazy now, so who cares?" He placed a trap card down and ended his turn. Now he was ready to talk. "What are you saying?" Though his words still made no sense to Alice or the others. "Well its all thanks to this friend there." Uno pointed at Neter. "He helped me discover where I am from. I came from the future, and I am guessing so did you.."

(To be Continued in Annex 066: Instead of Tomorrow)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Monkeyboard  
Xiangke Magician  
Xiangsheng Magician

-  
Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon

-  
Performance Hurricane

 **New Cards used by Cloe and Veronica  
** Ghostrick Mummy  
Ghostrick Witch  
Ghostrick Alucard

-  
Spirit Barrier

 **New Cards used by December  
** Juragedo


	66. Instead of Tomorrow

**Annex 066: Instead of Tomorrow**

Alice/Uno's LP: 500 Decembers LP: 2000

"You're from.. the future?" Surprisingly, the ones who showed the biggest reaction to Uno's claim were the supposed time travelers themselves. Alice said nothing, probably because she had no idea what to say about such a revelation. "You really didn't know?" And Uno come to an epiphany of his own. During his duel with Neter, he had just taken the kids words for taunts when he said that he did not recognize him. But those weren't lies, he was sure about that now. "When I first saw you, I thought that you were the ones who took my memories away. Now I think it might have been something else, not even a person." Uno pictured the image in his own head, of the great eye in limbo. "The point is... I'm not from around 'now'. When I dueled Neter and Dom and lost control, this pendant went berserk. It dragged me to another world. I was still in the same place, but everything was different. And It felt like home." He grabbed his pendulum crystal. "It must have been the same the first time. This brought me to the past, twice. Only the second time, I managed to keep my memories."

"So that is why.. you disappeared?" Alice finally spoke in a way Uno did not think she would. There was relief in her voice. "So after our game, when I teleported away.. you took a trip too? Hah, you really can tap into our powers!" The four travelers were definitely more at odds about this news. "You're suggesting that his pendulum copies the effects of ours? A person like him can do what we can?" August was offended. Uno could hear he did not have a lot of respect for him. "I think we're beyond suggestions. It has happened more than once. He heard us talk when you dueled him and Doms lackey. He experienced time speeding up before his duel with Neter." June saw no other explanation. And her words shed some light on other mysteries of yesterday. "That was you, wasn't it? You have some weird power to fast-forward the world.. to skip 'the boring parts'. One of you can be anywhere he wants to be, one of you can read minds and one of you can travel through time. I'm not sure yet how you can do it, but you are not like normal people. You're like me.. "

December/Augusts LP: 2000

"We are nothing like you! And we have gone through too much for too long to be stopped by a fraud! You neither understand nor deserve that power!" That must have been the final straw for August as he decided to cut into the duel after that remark. "December, let me crush them with you! We cannot let him get away, he has to be the one!" If Uno could jump into an ongoing duel, so could he. His lifepoints were now tied with Decembers. "I will allow it." December took a few steps to the left. "I will not fail Draw!" As Uno had taken his turn, Augusts would come after his and before Alice's. "Darkness of the Yang Zing!" He brought out the tuner wyrm of darkness, Jiaotu(2/0/2000). Two cards were discarded from his hand so Jiaotu could special summon two Yang Zing wyrms from the deck. "Fire of the Yangzing, Water of the Yangzing!" Suanni the lion wyrm(4/1900/0) and Bixi the turtle wyrm(2/0/1800) were summoned in defense mode. "Let the power of the one and only supreme power be carved into your soul! Synchro Summon!"

"There wont be any carving in my soul this turn, August! But thanks for announcing which monster you were going to summon!" The last time August gave that speech, it was for Scar-Light Red Dragon. A demon like that would destroy his Odd-Eyes Rebellion and his lifepoints in one fell swoop. "Performapal Showdown!" That was why he activated his trap. "For every spell card on my field, a monster on yours will be switched to face-down defense position!" Xiangke and Xiangsheng Magician counted as spell cards, so two of Augusts monsters were switched to face-down position. "What?" Suanni and Bixi disappeared, Jiaotu stayed behind. "You might say I gained new appreciation for flip effects after my previous duel." Uno chuckled. But he stopped when December decided to utter a new command.

"... January, June. Draw your cards."

"What? What! No, we don't have to do that! I am more than enough!" August, feeling humiliated, loudly spoke against him. "Do not speak of your pride with Me, August. This power must be destroyed at all costs." December did not have one word of it. August might have been a tall intimidating brute, but against His voice he was nothing. "Rgh. I understand." He placed a trap card down and ended his turn. During the endphase the two monsters that Jiaotu had summoned were banished.

"Hey!" But he was not the only one with objections to this plan. "If you're gonna make it four on two, you have no problem with four on four, do you?" A duelists rushed towards the scene. "Sis!" It was Emily, and she had brought Zach with her. "Alice. Thank god you're alright. I don't know who did this to you, but I am gonna make sure they regret it!" Emily wasted no more time on words and activated her dueldisk. It connected to the Alice and Uno's lifepoint pool. "They're back for more? I thought you made them sleep?" Neter tilted his head at this development. "I did... His power must have reversed mine.." When Uno first woke up, he had unleashed a strange wave from his pendulum. "Yeah we're awake." Emily snapped. She and Zach had recovered thanks to that wave. Cassius was the same, but he had been too exhausted from his previous duel to come down as well. "And Here I go!" In any case, she started her turn and summoned a flute-playing strawmask-wearing samurai(3/500/1000). "Superheavy Samurai Flutist uses its effect! It tributes itself to special summon a Superheavy Samurai from my hand in defense mode!" The samurai played his flute and sank into the graveyard. Its zone was relinquished to the heavyweight warrior, Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei(8/1000/3500). "Big Benkei attacks from defense mode, and he attacks your wyrm, August!"

"You will not get far!" August had to react quickly. "Oasis of Dragonsouls!" He activated his face-down trap, and with it he could revive a wyrm. One of the cards that Jiaotu had discarded would do well in this case. "Shadow of the YangZing!" It was Taotie the four-legged shadow-wyrm(5/2200/0). "Drown in the darkness of your own sins!" August activated Taotie's effect, starting a quick synchro summon during Emily's turn with his two Yangzing monsters. "Synchro summon! Yazi - Evil of the Yang Zing!" Taotie tuned with Jiaotu and evolved into its final form, the dragonic serpent(7/2600/2100) of the dark. It was of course summoned in defense mode. "If you slay my wyrm, I will just bring out another wyrm from my deck!" August boasted about its effects. "I know my synchro monsters. One way or another, you're gonna get what you want. So it'll be on my terms." Benkei continued its attack and destroyed the Evil of the Yangzing with a single cut.

Upon its death, Yazi special summoned the horned wyrmrabbit, Al-Lumi-Raj(3/1600/1000). "Emily, look!" Cassius was quick to warn her about that creature's crippling effect. "I know." Al-Lumi-Raj weakened the attack and defense points of all other monsters by their level or ranks, times 300. Benkei(0/1900) and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon(900/400) were virtually helpless now. "Not going to take that lying down." With her graveyard untouched by spell and trap cards, Emily was free to special summon the tuner Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter(2/300/600) from her hand. "I dont have any fancy chants, but I do have my own synchro monsters!" The Trumpeter and Benkei synchronized. "I summon Superheavy Samurai Susanowo!" The great warlord(10/0/800) sat down on the floor, ready to battle despite the power draining effects of the Allumiraj beast. "Uno, I am going to borrow your trap." Susanowo could take a trap or spell from graveyards that werent hers, this included her partners graveyard. The samurai warlord retrieved Performapal Showdown and placed it face-down on Emily's side.

"Hi-hi! It is my turn? It _is_ my turn!" Now with a third player added to the rumble, Neter had no qualms about taking his turn. "Hmm.. I dont have to do a lot. 500 Lifepoints? Hahah, I can sneeze that away!" Neter used Satellarknight Unukalhai(4/1800/1000). The Tellarknight was normal summoned, so its effect activated and tossed a Stellarknight Alsahm into the graveyard. "If Decem wants that monster gone, then it has to go!" Neter locked on to Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon and the starknight raised its scorpion-tail. "Yeah, no." This was when Emily activated Performapal Showdown. Their graveyards were not shared, but their fields were. So she technically controlled two spells. "Those two can take a breather as well." Two monsters, Al-Lumi-Raj and Unukalhai, were be flipped down. "That takes care of that." Both Susanowo(2500/3800) and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon(3000/2500) reclaimed the points that Al-Lumi-Raj had stolen. "Emily. Thank you." Uno said. That move saved them all... this time. "Thank me later, when we are out of the fire." Unfortunately the look on Neters face told Emily everything she needed to know about how quickly the next attack would come.

"Haha, nice! But what if I do this?" Neter activated Photon Lead, to special summon a light-monster from his hand. It was Satellarknight Altair(4/1700/1300), the winged knight who always special summoned other Satellarknights from the graveyard. "Oh no!" And that monster would be Satellarknight Alsahm, the card Unukalhai had discarded when he was normal summoned. "Yup! 1000 points of damage! It was fun, but now I.." Neter had his hand on the card already... "No!" ..when Alice activated her trap card. "I'm here too you know! I.. I use Monster Rebone! Because you special summoned a monster, I can special summon one from your graveyard!" The trap had many graves to choose from, and December was the lucky customer. "I take your Oracle King lady, D'Arc!" The Fusion D/D/D monster(7/2800/2000) flew out of her tomb to step down in front of Alice. "Ha!?" Then when Alsahm(4/1400/1800) the archer was special summoned by Altair, its damaging arrow was absorbed by D'Arc. Damage became healing energy as long as the Oracle was alive. "Neter! You helped them!" August cursed. "Oops."

Alice/Emily/Uno's LP: 1500

"Alice.. you dont know how happy you made me." Uno let out a deep breath of relief. For a minute there he had thought that he would actually lose. "Same here.. But seriously, Monster Rebone?" Emily was not ungrateful, but she did not think her sister still used cards just because of how funny they sounded. "You know it's funny." Alice couldn't help it. And now a pun had defused the danger. "And if it's together with you guys, then we can still have fun!"Finally Alice could take her turn, with Neter ending his. "Because Uno is our friend! And we will all fight for him, with him!" The Oracle King attacked and destroyed the face-down Al-Lumi-Raj wyrm. Since Neter had summoned all of his monsters in defense mode, it did not really matter which monster was destroyed first.

 _"This is not how it is supposed to go.."_ December was losing more and more of his composure. The fact that these children stood in his way, that their lifepoints refused to go down. _"June. Why did you not take your turn?"_ His own companions were not as effective as he expected either _. "Because I can sense that my involvement would just draw out the fourth. Perhaps even more. We can't risk it, we should get out while we all can."_ These thoughts would of course be picked up by June and she responded likewise. Normally, when the situation called for it, they conversed mentally to avoid giving information to the others. _"Wait.."_ Only this time was different. _"He is listening again!"_ June heard her own words echoing in her head as she read Uno's mind. "Ow..that was confusing." He got the same psychic noise. "What is going on?" From the outside it lookedlike June and Uno developed a headache at the same time. "You are learning to control it.." All of their pendulum crystals were glowing; June's earrings, Augusts belt, Neters armbands, Decembers headcrest and Uno's pendant. "Just like Tempus did.."

"Tempus?" There was that name again, it was starting to sound familiar. "It's not possible, he's too young!" August argued. "Age does not say everything, August." Neter replied, grinning. "The Tempus we know would never let others decide his fate. He would not give up who he was, for this." December joined in on the discussion with his thoughts, and Uno was getting tired of being the odd one out. "Okay. Who is this Tempus guy you keep talking about? Why do you think he's me?!" He was starting to wonder if he really could be this person. Except these people claimed to have never seen him in the past. "...June, I agree." December moved his hand over his dueldisk, deactivating it and every other disk in the vicinity. "Uno, Uno's friends; this duel is over for now." August, Neter and June took a step back to flank him. "We have to absorb some new information." June explained. "You were partially right, thought. We came from one future. Not yours or theirs; the future we came from no longer exists. Tempus saw to that. Your future will be next, unless we find him." She left that omen, as Neter teleported the four out of the office.

"They... ran away?" Emily would never get used to a disappearing act like that, and it was hard to accept that the fight got cut off so suddenly. "Wouldn't be the first time." Uno remarked. June fled from the Castle, August retreated after he attacked Dreamworld, Neter let Dom finish his duel with Uno. "Whoever they are, they're doing everything they can to avoid losing." Between the mindreading and timetraveling, those four had bent every rule just to overpower other duelists. "I am just glad that it is over." Zach observed the damage to Doms office and sighed. "Well, I will go back to see how Cassius is doing and if I can not at least get the power back up. For you it would be best if you use the room on the other side to rest up." The disciple excused himself and walked out. "I could use some rest, some real rest." Emily had just woken up from some weird magical coma, and that did not make her restful at all. "Good idea." Uno started to move, but Alice stopped him. "Uno.. I still have to give you these back." She had Beast-Eyes and Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in her hands. "My fusion dragons?" Uno flinched. He hadn't noticed that those two cards were missing from his extra deck. "I only used them, because I didn't think I could fight against that guy without them. And I took them because... I thought they might have been what got you hurt."

"Sis.. cards don't hurt people. Not by themselves.." Sure the cards could injure people if they were used by jerks like the XYZ-guild. But on their own they were harmless. "I know it's silly. Cards can't be alive..." Alice let out a nervous laugh. "I wouldn't joke about that." However Uno was dead serious as he answered her. "Huh?" Which took her and Emily by surprise. "I said I would tell you my whole story didn't I? Well I left in a lot of gaps so that _they_ would not get the full story. You'll just have to believe everything I am going to tell you." He took the fusion cards back. Alice had been close with her guess, she just chose the wrong dragons. "I can believe anything now." Emily had seen some crazyness that would be hard to top. "I would like to hear your story too, Uno. How did you come back, and why?" Alice had her own unresolved questions. "Well.. I should start with these three ladies.."

...

"Sir, may I say that I am glad to hear your voice again." A while later dreamworlds crew managed to restore the crucial functions within the tower like light and communication. Now Zach could finally reach his master. "The feeling's mutual, Zachary. We feared the worst when we couldn't get in touch with you." On their end Dom had managed to find one of his spare masks, which was also important.. to him. "We, sir? Uhm, putting that aside. I can inform you that we experienced no severe losses. Those four duelists tried to take Uno, but they were held off by his friends and they withdrew. Uno has recovered as well." Zach could tell him the good news now.. and the bad. "Recovered? Nobody told me he was sick."

"Oh. That is right; our last communication was interrupted. Sir it is not all sunshine unfortunately. I do not know why, but Eric Stonewell stole one of the three cards. The Fusion Dragon is now in the hands of the Fusion Guild. I let you down, sir." Zach was just happy that Iria was apparently not around to criticize his failure. "Eric? I never would have thought the kid had that in him... That's gonna be bad for the business." Dom took it well enough. But his disciple could still detect some anguish coming through in his words. "Sir? How are affairs on your end?" He had no idea how things were at the amusement park, there was nothing on the local channels about it yet. "Not crazy, but not great either. Everything is under control and the people are all safe. But the XYZ-guild fled long before the swat and trauma teams rolled in. They could not find any members or make any arrests. Hell, despite all the eyewitness accounts, they find it hard to accept. Some even accused me of staging everything just to to get some publicity! Can you believe the nerve? I am telling you, I do not have a good feeling about where this is going. The government is going to look for a scapegoat for this mess and it is probably going to be Dreamworld."

"So, what? They arent going after the guild now?" Was the question Uno gave as he walked into the control room. "Uno? I thought you were downstairs?" Zach was taken by surprise. "I left the Brandts alone with their mother, didn't wanna disturb that gettogether. And I wanted to tell Cassius, you, Dom and Iria my story too." After all they had done, Uno felt he could trust them. "Oh Iria is not here with me right now, she's busy handling the inquiry. Not that she can give them the answers they want. We could have handed them Ichirou for interrogation, except there's a problem there too. He snuck out while we were busy with those timetravelers. So, if he was awake, then probaly all the guilds now know about the decryption code. We're gonna need help."

(To be Continued in Annex 067: World Breaking)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Showdown

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Flutist

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Monster Rebone

 **New Cards used by August  
** Suanni, Fire of the Yang Zing

 **New Cards used by Neter  
** Photon Lead


	67. World Breaking

**Annex 067: World Breaking**

In the late hours of the night, Adamant found himself in an underground bunker. The XYZ-guild controlled many locations across the country that only they were aware of, some were made with their own resources. Here they could finally discuss their 'mission' without fear of interference. "Nothing. We have nothing! How do you justify this, Roma? You destroyed the guild, alienated us from half of our members!" Roma was there too of course, with his most loyal duelists there to protect him. That did not stop Adamant from airing every single grievance he had with the decisions of the new leader. "It was your failure that put us on this path. What would you have done, Adamant? You would say to avoid making attacks out in the open and wait for the right moment to get Doms files. But time is something we do not have, do we?" Roma tapped a few buttons on a nearby computer. "Luckily, the generators are still online and undetected. By the time they find them, it will be too late."

"The generators? You plan to go to phase four?!" An uncharacteristic look of horror set in on Adamants face. "Why are you so surprised? They were your idea." Roma stated calmly. "They were intended for the other side!" The former champion shouted. "The guilds are our enemy too, Adamant. If we cannot defeat them and gain control of our own territory, then we have no chance. Our partners have already agreed to go ahead with phase four." It looked like Adamant had no say at all anymore. Still he persisted. "There must be another way! The generators are our last resort, not our first! Let me take a small team of my finest duelists, we could engage with Dom directly!"

"How very honorable. I figured you would say that, mister Adamant." That was Ichirou's cue to walk into the room. "Ah, Ichirou. You made it back after all. I had almost given your position away." Roma was only slightly astonished to see his second-in-command. "Then I was fortunate enough to return in a timely manner, sir Roma. Alas, my own skills were insufficient when it came to safeguarding the cardmaker. His disciples bested me and my men in a duel. However I managed to escape during an interesting encounter. To make up for my failure I can grant the guild some vital information that I overheard. I believe Adamant will find it interesting too." The XYZ-duelist said with usual smiling expression. "What is this information?" Adamant was wary about any sentence that came from his tongue. "Dom has made himself useless to us. Everything he ever knew he put inside three cards. And if we get our hands on those cards, we will have everything we need for the coming war. There, that should help you shouldn't it mister Adamant?"

...

The night, or what remained of it, had been the time to relax for the Brandt family, in the comfort of dreamworld HQ. Doms office was offered to them by Zach, there was no better place to give in to exhaustion. The morning that followed was delightfully calm. They did not know any better than to think the worst had been put behind them. Yet there were still dangers out there. "Those four guys. We should give them a name.." Alice certainly had not forgotten that. Though Emily wishes she had. "We really dont." It was bad enough to remember that everything that happened last night was not some crazy dream. She just wanted to stay in bed, but as usual her sister was already up and about: talking and theorizing without end. "But everyone needs a name. What do you think? Maybe we can call them the four Time-Bandidos, or the Calendar Quartert!" Alice just took everything at face-value; time travel, real monsters, everything. That was how she usually was in the morning, filled with too much energy and curiosity. It was a brand new day. "Uhhh..Just.. can we talk about this later? I.." And there were brand new noises. "Aggh.. what the.. what now?" It sounded like a vehicle was passing the building, getting closer and louder. "Fine. I'm getting up."

The source of the sound was Doms helicopter, which Zach had sent back to the park to come pick his master up. He and Uno waited at the top of the tower to greet him, since Uno wanted to be here as well. "Did you have a nice flight, sir?" His disciple inquired. "Taking a nap of an hour or so in the middle of the skies after a whole day of restlessness? I wouldn't recommend it, Zachary. But hey, I've had worse.." Dom kept a positive attitude for someone who desperately wanted to crash down and forget the rest of the world existed. "It could have been.." Iria meanwhile seemed only slightly more crankier than usual. The presence of Uno was a factor in that. Her glare was meant just for him. "You are still clinging to your tale?" Uno had told them what he told the Brandts, and Iria did not believe it then either. To assume the existence of time travel was too ridiculous, she could not even say it. "It's not just me, Iria. I know they said it too." Uno had stayed up all night as well. He'd done enough sleeping during the day. Those midnight hours were spent listening to the recordings Zach had made of Decembers encounter with Dom and Iria.

"Whatever they are, or claim to be, they are not our priority right now. The XYZ-guild is now public enemy number one. Meanwhile the Fusion Guild has acquired key information." Iria bitterly stated what they already knew, primarily to make clear to Zach how she felt about the loss of the fusion dragon. "It's not all bad. They need all three cards to make sense of the encryption codes. Even if they get access to the servers, they wont get anything." Dom came to Zach's defense, which Zach appreciated but it did not make him feel any less ashamed. "Thank you sir. But it is not all good either. The fusion guild has not responded to our calls. It appears they are denying any involvement. We did not find Meridian in the tunnels either." All their leads were gone, and all because their inside-man betrayed them. "Eric Stonewell. That traitor will regret going against us." Iria swore. "Hey, I know Eric a little. I can't imagine he would turn his back on his friends. Something must have happened." Only Uno apparently still believed in his innocense.

"Why are we talking about this when the XYZ-guild is the one we need to deal with first? Ichirou got away; the XYZ-guild might be aware of the three dragon cards now. We have to find their members. They may have cleared out their stations, but their names are still registered. We should go to their families to their friends, interrogate each and every last one of them!" Iria felt that was the only thing they could do at this point. "Iria. I saw these members, they don't even have the slighest idea of what their leaders are trying to do. A third of them just signed up because they like to duel, and are too affraid to back out because they have been part of the guild for too long. Another third is filled with duelists who are too loyal to betray the guild, or are having too much fun beating up duelists with their monsters. The rest did not even show up during the attack. You wont get anything from them, and you definitely wont get anything from their families." Uno did not like her plan simply because he could not imagine that all of them were guilty.

"He has a point, Iria. The country has enough paranoida on its own. I'm open for strategies, but I'd like it if we could continue this in the control room." Dom was starting to get cold up here at the top of the tower. "Very well." Iria dropped her argument, for now. Dom, Uno and the disciples moved down the stairs. "So what is causing problems, besides every duelist in the world that is. You said that people were trying to pin the blame on your company?" Since Dom had brought up the topic of paranoia, Uno figured he could ask more about that. "Eh it's just saber-rattling for now. The suits at city hall are holding me responsible for 'traumatization visited upon my park-going citizens'. They say the XYZ-guild might have been the ones who turned my creations into weapons, but I was still the one who supplied it to them. I'm probably gonna get a mass lawsuit and have to settle out of court, it happens. But this time it feels like someone is putting extra pressure on us, there's talk of a ban on dueling. We're being watched, so my hands are sorta tied. Going after the XYZ-guild by ourselves would get us in trouble." Of course Dom did wonder if this was just the government talking, or if it was someone else too.

"I just do not understand why the XYZ-guild would go this far? What drove them to this? Who is the enemy they keep talking about?" Zach had thought it over many times and he never found a satisfying answer. The guilds had existed for many years, and nothing like this ever happened before. The country was not at war with anyone else either, so that could not be it. "Maybe it's just this year that is special. Maybe this is the last chance they had to get what they wanted? The three sisters did say that time was running out." Uno had his theories. It could not have been a coincidence that he travelled to this time. "This again, Uno?" But here is where Iria had to interject. "You should know that I did a background check on these sisters that you keep mentioning. Neither their names nor their location came up in any search results. The ones you call Cloe, Veronica and Margot; they do not exist." If there was any part of Uno's tale that she had difficulty accepting, it was that of the prophecy sisters. "Well I know what I saw. Frankly, I wouldn't want to go looking for them anyway." The three sisters were a mystery in their own class, of course it would not be so easy to find them. "Forget it then." Iria gave up. If Uno wanted to believe it, she would let him. Though truthfully, Uno could not be sure if the sisters were real or if they were just mental delusions.

"Ah. Home at last.." The four arrived at the control room. This place would have to serve as Doms main office now that the one below had had its windows smashed to pieces. "Iria. Check the computer. See if Uno responded yet... The other Uno I mean." Dom turned to Uno. "You're still sticking with that name, right? I mean, I know plenty of Bobs and Jims and Wills, but at least with them I can use their last names to point them out." In the case of both Uno's, he had no such luxury. "I am sticking with it yes.. And you sent the other UNO a message? Don't you think that's exactly what December and his friends are going to look out for?" As Uno said this, Iria's eyes locked with Doms mask. "Oh...That _is_ what they wanted you to do." Uno remembered the last sentence uttered on the record; December giving Dom a last order before he would leave them. The actual demand was not picked up by the recorder. "Sir..." And if that was the case, now was the time to come clean. "He did respond." Because Iria looked at another direct message from UNO himself. It was one word.

''Yellow."

"You got him to answer you? What did you say?" Without the request, the response meant nothing. That was probably the point. "I am affraid he was right, Zach. December had an ultimatum. I could get back in contact with Uno willingly, or he would make me. Naturally I chose the less painful option. I told UNO about everything that happened and asked if we could talk in person. He got back to me a little sooner than I expected, in less than a million years." Uno had always declined personal visits before. Perhaps this was a sign that even He understood how big the stakes were. "Blue is a codeword. It means that he has chosen a safe and neutral location to meet me."

"You do realize that as soon as you do that, December is gonna jump on him like a lion on raw steak. Uno is the one he wants now; me and him." This was so obviously a trap, Uno could smell it from miles away. "Don't have much of a choice. December told me not to give away that people were after him, and if I did, he would never show up. UNO is the one who pushed to keep the tournament going. Maybe he is in cahoots with this Tempus fellow, maybe he isn't. Irregardless, he knows a hell of a lot more than we do, and he needs to tell us what that is. And if we can get him on our side, it should help our case as well.." If they had the true creator of the cards, they would have the best weapon possible against the guilds. "Well, when you go to see him, I want to be there as well. After all, I am his biggest fan apparently.." "

...

As the morning continued, Heather rejoined her family to discuss something important. "Emily, Alice. I have been thinking, and you might not like what I am about to say.. But I feel you should be going back home." She had not been looking forward to broaching this subject, but it had to be done. "What!? Go back home? In the middle of everything going on?" As she expected, her oldest daughter resisted the suggestion right away. "Aren't you coming too then?" The other was more puzzled than riled. "I wish I could stay with you girls, but after everything that happened yesterday, my coworkers need me more than ever. I saw what happened, I have to let the people know. I put in a request to have you two come along with me, but it was shut down. And I can't keep an eye out, your father can."

"But can't he come to us? Why do we need to leave? We'd be running away from everything!" Emily did acknowledge her mothers concerns, they were just outweighed by her own. "Maybe it is safer there..but what about Uno, and Eric?" Alice did not want to abandon them either. What would they even tell Erics mother if they showed up alone and her son was nowhere to be seen? "I get that you feel like you have to help. But this is not a game anymore, this is terrorism. We should let the national forces handle this. Look, I do not have a lot of time but I cannot leave if I think you are going to be in danger again." She was torn. Any other time she would have told the office to take a raincheck, but the country was in disarray. The common people did not know it yet, and the state wanted to keep it that way. "Mrs Brandt; I can take care of them." Hearing this, one duelist offered himself to take her place. "Aaron?" It was the duelist who used to just be the friendly neighborhood kid. Who had finally recovered from his exhaustion and now looked better than ever. "I'll keep them safe, and get them out of trouble if it pops up. I will have them home before you know it."

"Aaron.." Emily was not happy with that. Her mother was. "Thank you. I know I can trust you." She said nothing against the arrangement. "Girls, I love you. I will be back as soon as I can.. okay?" She gave both of them a hug. "Okay." Only Alice responded. "...Goodbye." Heather sighed and grabbed her belongings. She left the suite. "Now hear me out, Em." As soon as the room was cleared, Cassius attempted to explain himself. "No, I get it.." But Emily did not want to talk about it. "But just so you know. It's going to take a lot to get me to budge.. I 'm still part of the synchro guild." She fumed. "I wouldn't want it any other way, Em." Cassius smiled.

...

Zach flew the helicopter to a city up north. "So why this place?" Uno looked down and saw an old bookstore; that was where they were landing. "Well this happened before my time, but master Dom told me that when he first spoke with UNO, he had a huge argument over what color each card should be. He wanted them all to be based on the colors of his bookcovers, and the first book was yellow.. just like normal monsters. This is the store where his first book was sold. This place was before my time too, when they still printed books on paper." Nowadays everything was machines, lasers and digital software. It was more efficient, but less sociable. "You know you don't have to keep calling him master when he's not around." Uno noted. "Pardon, it is a force of habit." Zach smiled. The master was watching them both anyway.

"So we are here because UNO said yellow? Seems kinda vague if you ask me." Uno hoped that this was not just dead lead. "Dom believes it isn't. UNO would not use a signal that we wouldn't understand. And this is one of the few places UNO ever talked about." Zach powered the vehicle down and jumped out. Uno followed him, and they headed inside. "Then where are we looking?" It was a big building and nobody seemed to be around. This place was mostly used for storing books and management was fully automated too. "I do not know. I think he is going to make the next move, so we.."

"Uno! Your disk!" Zach shouted as the lights on Uno's device went haywire. "What the.." Two flat beams came from the device, which phased through the two duelists. "I think we this is his 'move'." They were being scanned, along with their surroundings. "Ah! But of course! Your dueldisk must have a direct line with! He wanted us to come to an isolated place so he could talk to us in this way!" Dom and the Disciples had held this theory ever since thy saw Uno's dueldisk create new cards out of thin air. "He really must be nervous around people. Wait does this mean UNO was the one who gave me this disk after all?" The beams pulled back as the disk started humming strange noises. Then it emitted a different light, a hardlight holographic construct. "UNO?" It took the shape of a faceless man of average height and build. "No. That's just the standard wireframe model for humanoid duel monsters." This was a good form one who wanted preserve their identity. But there he was. "UNO!" Uno finally had a way to speak to him. He had so many questions. And yet he had only three statements, using the voice of the dueldisk.

"You are being followed. You are not Dom. You cannot be Trusted."

(To be Continued in Annex 068: If You Can't Trust Yourself)


	68. If You can't Trust Yourself

**Annex 068:** **If You Can't Trust Yourself**

"Sir. I realize this may not be the most opportune time, but we're receiving a transmission from the Fusion Guild and they are asking for a response." As if the master of Dreamworld did not have enough on his plate today, one of his many secretaries came with that dire message. "We are, are we? Well patch them through, Eleanor. Iria; I will handle this. Keep monitoring Zach and Uno's progress." After a full day of silence, Dom could not afford to miss this opportunity. "Yes sir." So Iria took over the main screens while he accepted the call. It came from none other than the guild's leading duelists. "Ah, Dame Phoebe. Why am I not surprised?" Dom was not going to stick to decorum, knowing what this guild had done. "Right down to the brass tacks, Dom? That is not like you. I don't think I like it." It was the kinder half of the girl that was speaking to them now. "But if you insist. Mister Dom, I would really love it if we could combine forces." She said softly. "An alliance?" That was not what Dom assumed she came here for. "Yeah. We have a common enemy, and we should stop them before they strike again. The XYZ-guild is like a wounded pet, it will lash out in awful ways if we do not put it down. With your resources and ours, I am sure we can do it."

It was an interesting proposition on the surface, but Dom did not get much time to consider it. "Resources? You mean the card you had Eric steal?" Emily came into the control room, drawing Iria's displeasure. "You are not allowed in here!" However Emily did not let that stop her, she walked right up to the screen with the girls face on it. "Where is Eric? What did you do to him?" She was not going to leave until she got her answers. "Emily, was it? Eric is with us. He came back to aid the guild during that ugly mess of yesterday. The kid is fine and happy." Phoebe said with her ever-crooked smile. "You're lying! Eric would never choose you over his friends, or steal for you!" Emily yelled at her. "I do not know what you are talking about, Emily. People change, they grow up. That is all.." The girl sighed and turned to Dom. "I will give you, oh, 24 hours to see the advantages of my proposal. Then we can all be one big happy family. Ta-ta." The screen blacked out. "Urgh.. Who does she think she is?" Emily grumbled. "Someone who has very good bargaining chips." Dom concluded, as he rubbed his dome. "They have one-third of our complete records and your friend. They are asking nicely now. They wont ask nicely again.."

...

[You are being followed. You are not Dom. You cannot be Trusted.]

"Followed? He must be talking about December." Uno glared around nervously. They seemed to be alone, but that did not mean they were alone. "UNO! Wait! We were sent by Dom! We have to talk!" Zach pleaded. It was true what UNO said, but they still had to make use of this meeting. "You did not come here just to tell us off, did you?" Uno did not think UNO was going to leave anyway. The first duelist was safe this way, and he had come for a reason. [There is one way] The holographic figure had more to say after all. [To show that you are with Dom] Suddenly Uno's dueldisk switched into active mode. "What is this now?" And it connected with Zach's dueldisk; the disciple had been challenged. "That wasn't me. It's him." UNO had taken control of Uno's device. "You want do duel me? Is that how I prove myself?" Zach understood the idea but not the execution. [It is what he would do. If you are his Disciple, you can defeat me]

UNO's LP: 8000 Zach's LP: 8000

UNO drew five cards, using the digital card program inside Uno's dueldisk. "So I just sit here then?" Uno felt like a third wheel, holding the machine that created all the holograms with one arm. If anything he wanted to be the one to challenge UNO. [Only one has to take this test] UNO placed a card down in the monster zone and a card in the spell/trap zone. "So you want to know about me. Did Dom never tell you about me?" Zach inquired as he started his turn now. [No] UNO answered simply. "I see." It was sadly fitting, Dom never told Zach anything about having duels with UNO either. The master liked secrets. "Since I control no monsters, I can special summon Solo the Melodious Songstress from my hand!" A dancing diva(4/1600/1000) in a red dress, with a winged crown of blonde curls, danced her way into the store. "And I activate the continuous spell, Fortissimo! Each turn I can add 800 attackpoints to one Melodious monster, until my next turn!" The spell targeted Solo(2400/1000). "Sing my songstress!" She began her powerful attack, crushing UNO's facedown monster with her song.

And that monster was Solo the Melodious Songstress(4/1600/1000). "Huh?" Zach's monster had destroyed her namesake. "He's using Melodious too? The same one even?" Uno figured out quickly what was going on here. "A mirror duel!" UNO was using the exact same deck as Zach, down to the way the cards were shuffled. "Really?" Zach gasped and inspected his own hand. "Solo and Fortissimo, Elegy, Score and Rhythm Change. He has the same five cards in his hand then?" That seemed to be the case, but only for now. [Yes, this is a mirror duel] UNO used the second effect of Solo the Songstress. Her destruction special summoned a Melodious from the deck. Mozarta the Melodious Maestra(8/2600/2000) was brought out. [I did not create the Melodious, I did not create every deck. But I test every card, and this is how] With a monster summoned from the deck, the deck would be shuffled. UNO would not draw the same cards that Zach drew from here on in. "So it is." Zach got the test now. "I shall set one monster face-down and one trap card." At least, the card he had drawn this turn would be a secret to UNO.

[I do not need to explain myself, I am sure] UNO took his turn and started activating effects at a rapid rate. Mozarta used her power to special summon Elegy the Melodious Diva(2000/1200) from the hand. Elegy's song powered up all Melodious, giving herself(2300/1200), Mozarta(2600/2000) and any future singers 300 attackpoints. Then UNO normal summoned Aria the Melodious Diva(4/1900/1200). "Oh bother. Out of all cards he drew that one?" Zach hadn't gotten that one himself, and this was a problem because UNO had his face-down trap. He revealed it; Melodious Rhythm Change. It returned Aria to the hand to special summon a Melodious from the hand; Aria the Melodious Diva in defense position. "Oh. He's good at this too." Uno whistled. Zach's opponent had set up the Elegy/Aria combo before Zach could. Now Melodious monsters that UNO controlled could not be destroyed or targeted by effects. [Of course]

 _Melodious Rhythm Change, Normal Trap_  
 _Target 1 "Melodious" monster you control; return it to the hand, and if you do, special summon 1 "Melodious" monster from your hand._

[Surprise me] UNO activated his last card, Fortissimo, to power up Elegy(3100/1200). "Her?" Then Elegy attacked and destroyed Solo the Melodious Diva. "Ah. You are expecting me to summon Mozarta too?" His Solo could naturally use the same effect. Except if he summoned Mozarta as well, UNO's Mozarta would just overpower her. Zach had no Elegy in his musical entourage. "Then I will get my muses my own way! I summon Aria!" The dying Solo special summoned Zach's Aria Diva(4/1600/1200) in defense mode. "I also activate my own Melodious Rhythm Change! I return my face-down Melodious to my hand, to special summon another in a defensive position!" Zach's set card was Serenade the Melodious Diva(4/400/1900). He swapped her with the Melodious Diva in his hand; Elegy(5/2300/1200). [Logical Choices] Now Zach had set up his lock, Elegy powered up Aria(1900/1600) and the two made each other indestructible. [But not surprising] It might have been a mere hologram talking, but Zach could hear the disappointment in UNO's voice. [End turn]

Zach's LP: 7300

"Well, now what do I do?" They were at a stalemate, locked and locked. "You could use Score, couldn't you?" Uno pointed out one card in Zach's hand. Score had an effect that did not target, so it could get around Aria's protections. "But he can do the same if I make that attempt. And I would rather do this duel without help. But I appreciate it Uno." Zach would rather save the card for when UNO attacked. "But I must act, time is precious." Zach switched Aria to defense mode and reset Serenade in face-down defense position. Then he used the effect of Fortissimo on Elegy(3100/2000). "I attack Mozarta!" This was the only way to inflict some damage this turn, by having Elegy clash songs with the Maestra. Of course, Mozarta did not die thanks to Aria. "UNO. You do not trust us, but it just struck me that we have no reason to trust you either. How can you prove to us that you are the real UNO?" Zach placed a trap card down and passed the turn to Uno.

UNO's LP: 7800

[You doubt me, the author, the first duelist?] The hologram placed his hand on Uno's dueldisk. "Uh, what's he doing?" The machine was making that weird noise again. [Maybe this will convince you]. A light came from the extra deck, one that Uno found very familiar. "Is he.." Before Uno could look inside, the hand dragged a card from the extra deck slot; a physical card. "He printed a new card?" That was it, that was how Rune-Eyes and Beast-Eyes were born! And it was a fusion card too. [Watch] UNO used Mozarta's effect to special summon Soprano the Melodious Songstress(4/1700/1400) from his hand. Soprano's initial effect placed the digital Solo Melodious back in the duelists hand, since she had been special summoned. But her second effect allowed her to fuse herself with a Melodious monster on the field. [The Materials are One Maestra and one Melodious] Soprano the Songstress fused her body with Mozarta's; creating a blue-haired fairy(7/1900/2000) in a yellow floral dress. [Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir] It was a whole new fusion monster.

"You _are_ him." Only UNO would have the power to instantly create new monsters that the network accepted. [Of course. Bloom Prima can attack twice each battle phase, and gains 300 atatckpoints for each material fused into it] Along with the powerboost from Elegy, Bloom Prima(2800/2000) gained 900 attackpoints. And she(3600/2000) was also granted 800 attackpoints with the effect of Fortissimo. [But only that disk can create a card in such a way. It has a special device inside, and only few of them exist. How did you get it, Uno?] The hologram turned to Uno for once. "I don't know. I lost my memories. Dom should have told you that! I thought you gave them to me! Havent you been sending me special cards all this time?" Uno yelled back. [I have not, if someone else has used the remote printing function, I was not aware of it. Is that why you called, to get answers?] UNO re-normal summoned Solo the Songstress(4/1900/1000) and entered the battle phase. [You waste my time] Bloom Prima unleashed a double vortex of petals from the flowers on her shoulder. Both attacks were headed towards Elegy.

"It is more than that, sir UNO!" Zach had to activate Score the Melodious Diva now, or he was done for. He discarded the card from his hand to reduce Bloom Prima(0/3000)'s attackpoints to zero. [It is?] UNO retaliated immediately by discarding his Score Diva card to reduce the attackpoints of Elegy(0/1000). The Melodious Choir and Melodious Diva could not kill each other, but their attackpower would stay at zero for the rest of the turn. That allowed UNO's Elegy, Aria and Solo to score painful hits as they attacked Zach's weakened Elegy. "Ngh. Yes! We need you. We need your help! You wanted to keep the tournament going but now the XYZ guild has run amok, and they want everything we created. And there other duelists out there, who already have the power of pendulum. We need to find a way to fight back!" Zach made his impassioned plea. At the same time he activated his trap, Damage Gate. He used the damage he took Elegy's last attack to revive his Solo the Songstress(4/1900/1000) as she had less attackpoints then the absorbed damage.

Zach's LP: 1200

[Pendulum. The finest creation. Fusion, Synchro, XYZ; they were all just stepping stones towards that power. To remake it] For once he first duelist seemed to be thinking things over. "Remake it?" Zach did not understand what he meant with that. [The Tournament had to keep going, to see who had the right to gain power. A duel is all the cards accept] UNO said as he ended his turn. "The cards? You..you think they are alive too?" Uno was shocked to see this mind who thought alike. [Not all cards are based on stories. Not all stories are fairytales. They are legacies. And not all Legacies were told. Whoever holds them, can become like them. That is the power I guard, and the power the guild wants] The hologram pointed a finger at Zach. [If you feel you deserve even a sliver of it, you must let me see your worth. That is why we duel]

"To prove myself to the cards? Father would call me crazy if he could see me now." Zach moaned and shook his head. He never saw his cards as just tools. He hoped they knew that too.. "Who will the final singer be? I draw!" He had no cards in his hand anymore, and UNO still had Bloom Prima(3600/2000). He could use Fortissimo, whose second effect fused Melodious monsters freely. But neither Schuberta nor Bloom Diva could get over the Elegy/Aria lock. "I.." But there was one thing that could. "I sacrifice you Serenade!" He used his face-down Diva, who counted as two tributes for other Melodious monsters. "Come out, Shopina the Melodious Maestra!" A red-eyed pale fairy(7/2600/1700), in an elegant purple dress appeared on the floor. "Shopina can add one light-monster from my graveyard to my hand! I choose Score!" The Maestra played a tune on her piano of light, luring the discarded Diva back from the graveyard.

"Aha!" Uno knew 'the score' now. "Aria, go to attack position! Shopina, use Fortissimo!" Before the battle phase, Zach prepared his band and the continuous spell energized their leading lady(3400/1700). "Score, complete the set!" During the actual battle, when Shopina declared her attack, Score used her effect. She sang her song again to depower Bloom Prima(0/2000), just as Shopina's soundblasts reached UNO's fusion diva. The Melodious Choir was also attacked by her counterparts; Solo, Aria and Elegy each added their voice to the damaging chorus. Their four attacks were enough to take down any opponent, even The First Duelist. "Finito!"

UNO's LP: 0

[Interesting. You do not duel like Dom. But I can see that you are his student] The hologram accepted his defeat with grace, it even made a bow. [Take this] It tossed the Bloom Prima card towards Zach. "Thank you." Zach accepted it. He wanted to say more, but he did not want to sound ungrateful. "That's nice. But that is not really all we came here for." Uno guessed he would speak for them both. [No. I know. I cannot give you what I gave Dom, he has been compromised. But I can see your sense of dueling is just, so I can give you that which allowed me to create Bloom Prima; the printer within this dueldisk. With it, you can make whatever you wish, even pendulum cards. But once I give it to you, the direct line will be closed. I also will no longer respond to Doms messages.] UNO's eyeless face stared into Uno's eyes. [The next time we meet, will be in person, when I decide it, while you still have time]. The figure disappeared. "Ack." Uno did not even get a word out. "Hey.." And the first duelist was not kidding either, the dueldisk on Uno's arm suddenly fell apart into a dozen pieces. It revealed a device at the center that was big enough to hold a card. "Is that..it?" It was the card maker, UNO's gift to them. "Dom is going to want to hear about this."

...

Back at Dreamworld, as Dom got back in contact with Zach to discuss all the developments, Cassius saw a chance of his own. "Silver. Can I have a word with you?" He approached the other disciple outside the control room. "If this is about your earlier suggestion, Doms answer is unchanged." This was not the first time. Cassius had tried to convince Dom to move to one of his guilds bases, but the Master shot that plan down. "No. Listen. I've had a thought in my head; how could the XYZ-guild plant a virus in your network without you knowing about it? I have a theory and I know you have it too..." He waited to see if she realized what he was getting at. She did so right away. "A mole." That had been her hunch from the start, yet Dom insisted no-one in his company would go against him. "Right. If there's a mole, this building has been compromised. Either way, how secure can we be when the system was hacked one time already? That's why we should get out, and soon. Dame Phoebe was right about one thing, the XYZ-guild could try anything right now. I am going regardless, I have friends I promised to protect. The choice is yours.. maybe you can make Dom understand."

"Sir!" At this time, Eleanors voice once again came in. "The master is indisposed at the moment, I will take your message. What is it?" Iria had set it so that all incoming calls would be sent to her dueldisk. "It is Adamant, madam. He demands to see Dom." The secretary told them in a panicked hurry. "He does, does he? Well he can talk to me first. Patch him through.." The disciple replied. "Uh, madam... You misunderstand. He is here, standing right here." That was why her words came out trembling like they did. "Here!?" Both Cassius' and Iria's heads snapped to the screens in the control room. "Uh, Zach. Can you hold the line for a second." Dom spotted him too. Adamant stood inside the building, surrounded by ten of his own men and several dozen of Dreamworlds security guards. This could not have been more ill-timed, their defensive measures were still down after Decembers attack, and the national forces were still spread across the country. "He got inside.. What does he want?" Something had to be up if Adamant showed up in person, and Cassius could not imagine this was a sign of submission. "He is saying he wants a duel, for the right of the three cards." Eleanor said, still anxious. "Or else there will be consequences.."

(To be Continued in Annex 069: Survival of the Fastest)

 **New Cards used by Zach  
** Solo the Melodious Songstress  
Shopina the Melodious Maestra

-  
Fortissimo

 _-  
Melodious Rhythm Change (+)_

 _(+ Based on the Trap used by Yuzu in YuGiOh Arc-V)_

 **Cards used by UNO  
** Solo the Melodious Songstress  
Aria the Melodious Diva  
Elegy the Melodious Diva  
Soprano the Melodious Songstress  
Score the Melodious Diva

-  
Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir

-  
Fortissimo

-  
 _Melodious Rhythm Change (+)_


	69. Survival of the Fastest

**Annex 069:** **Survival of the Fastest**

Adamant and several duelists from the XYZ-guild formed stood on one side. The security forces that caught them sneaking inside Dreamworld HQ flanked the other. The two were caught in a stand-off, though the latter found themselves cornered by the formers use of barriers and holograms. "Adamant!" The XYZ-leader had come for Dom, but that was not the duelist who came down. "Synchro-guild.." Cassius came, by himself. "I did not expect to see you here, away from your own men." Adamant spoke while he kept his eyes on everyone around. "Our guild is not like yours, Adamant. The best duelist does not lead us; my companions can run the guild without me. That was your mistake when your men tried to capture me. Then again, I heard they're no longer _your_ men." Cassius only had second-hand information, but he'd been told that Roma was now in charge. "There have been changes. For you too, I see. You have recovered." The former leader continued the conversation, as if he was simply talking to an old friend. "I can walk again, yes." As did Cassius.. for a little while. "Why are you here, Adamant? What do you think you're going to get with threats? You don't seem like the type to take hostages."

"You think you know me, Synchro-Guild? An enemy greater than all of us exists, and I will do anything to make sure we all survive. We need those codes Either I am going to take them, or Roma will. You do not want to have blood on your hands." Adamant snapped his fingers and his followers all redirected their dueldisks towards the Synchro-duelist. "What is Roma going to do? Who is the enemy? We do not know who you are talking about, Adamant. If their power is truly so great and dangerous, than we should work together to take it down!" Cassius resisted activating his own dueldisk. He stayed focused on the ex-champion. "We cannot work together, Synchro-Guild. One of the guilds is in league with the Enemy, it could be you or it could be Dame Phoebe. We are loyal only to ourselves. Only when the enemy is vanquished, will we see peace." Adamant took one step, his men did the same. The bodyguards tried to intervene, but the barriers did not give them any freedom of movement. "Now get out of the way."

"No, Adamant." Cassius did not budge. "Not all of the cards you want are here." Cassius took out a white card. "!" Adamants eyes widened. "Sir is that.." They were looking at one of the monsters Ichirou had described to them; Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. "This is what you want. You're going to have to take it from me. Leave the rest out of it." Cassius inserted the card into his extra deck, and activated the dueldisk. "Why you.." Some of the XYZ-duelists grabbed their own decks. Adamant made them stand down with a single gesture. "He is mine. " He placed his hand on his dueldisk and switched it on. "It has to be that way, right? Nobody else but you can bring this card back to Roma." Cassius started drawing cards. "...I had wanted to duel you, Synchro-Guild. It is fortunate that we crossed paths after all."

...

Dom, Iria, Emily and Alice were all in the control room watching the proceedings from a safe distance. "He gave the card up for ante? What does he think he is doing?" When Iria gave Cassius permission to go down below to engage Adamant, this was not what she had in mind. "We gotta help him!" Emily was not satisfied with merely observing the duel. "There's so many of them.." But, as Alice observed, if they all went down there to assist him, they still would be outnumbered at three to one. "Alice, you beat him once before. We can do it again, together." Emily still insisted on going down. "Maybe.. but Adamant.. I think he's someone who would want to just have a duel between two players. Aaron promised mom that we'd not get us in trouble. He's doing this for us too." If Adamant lost this duel here, he might simply give up. "That's all nice, except for the part where his flunkies come in. They probably don't have that same code of honor." Dom said, shaking his head. He primarily wanted to know how Adamant got this far in the first place.

...

Adamants LP: 8000 Cassius' LP: 8000

The two duelists filled their hand. The first turn was granted to Cassius. "Speedroid Menko!" The spintoy roid(4/100/2000) was summoned in attack position. "..." That gave away that Cassius intended to use it as a synchro material. Adamant was certain Cassius would be quick on the draw. "Speedroid Taketomborg!" Cassius did not bother with effect clarifications either. These two duelists knew each others decks as if they were their own. Taketomborg(3/600/1200) could special summon itself because the wind-type Speedroid Menko was already on the field. "I shall trade it for Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice!" Taketomborg could also tribute itself to special summon a Speedroid tuner, the foursided dice(3/300/1500). "Let's take this card..for a ride." Only wind-monsters could be summoned during a turn in which Taketomborg used its second effect. Luckily a certain Synchro Dragon had that attribute. "I synchro summon Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" Menko and Tri-Eyed Dice synchronized all seven stars to create an armored dragon(7/2500/2000) as clear as a white sheet.

"There it is.." This was the card that the XYZ-guild needed. It was a sight to behold. For Adamant there also was no mistaking its resemblance to Uno's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "Well, Adamant. If you want to see what it can do, be my guest!" Cassius grinned and placed two trap cards down on his field and ended his turn.

"... Your guest..." Adamant stared for a second before he drew his sixth card. He then normal summoned his first monster; a metallic eagle(3/1000/500) with white wings. "Raidraptor Skull Eagle." A spell followed the summon. "Raidraptor Call." With that spell Adamant could special summon a copy of his existing Raidraptor, another Raidraptor Skull Eagle(3/1000/500), from his deck. "XYZ-Summon!" The two Skull Eagles were overlayed and a XYZ-monster of the 3rd rank was born. "Raidraptor Fiend Eagle!" The new eagle(3/1000/0)'s metal changed from white to black, and its wings were as red as blood. The two Skull Eagles activated their effects while they were XYZ-materials. Each attached Eagle added 300 attackpoints to the XYZ-Raidraptor(1600/0). "To insert a new card into your deck, when it might go against your own strategy. That can be a mistake, Synchro-guild." Of course Adamant detached one material from Fiend Eagle. Fiend Eagle could inflict damage to a player, equal to the attackpoints of one of their special summoned monsters. But.. that special summoned monster had to be targeted first.

"Look closer, Adamant! I think it suits me just fine. I suppose even the former champion can learn something new!" Cassius activated his monsters power. "When a level 5 or higher monster is targeted by another monsters effect, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon can destroy that monster!" The beams that the Fiend Eagle fired were intercepted by the Synchro dragon and redirected towards the tips of its own wings. As if it had hit a mirror, the energy was reflected and Fiend Eagle was destroyed by its own effect. "Then Clear Wing Synchro Dragon gains the attackpoints of that destroyed monster for that turn!." The remaining power was absorbed inside the dragon(3500/2000)'s body. "Do not presume folly on my part, Synchro-Guild. I can read." Adamant knew that this would happen. First, he added Raidraptor Call back to his hand. Skull Eagles had a second ability; if they were detached from a XYZ-monster they could return one Raidraptor card to a players hand. But Raidraptor Call was not instrumental for his next step. "Rank-Up-Magic: Soul Shave Force!"

Adamants LP: 4000

"Soul Shave?" Adamant had to pay a heavy cost to activate this spell card. "You really are serious." Soul Shave Force could evolve an XYZ-Raidraptor by two ranks at once, and it did not matter if that Raidraptor was dead or alive. "I take Skull Eagle and overlay it into Raidraptor Blaze Falcon!" The hellish eagle left its grave and was attached to the newly XYZ-summoned red falcon(5/1000/2000). "Your dragon can only activate its power once every turn." Not that that would have made a difference, Blaze Falcons effect did not take specific targets. "I destroy your monsters." Adamant detached Fiend Eagle, and Blaze Falcon aimed its cannons at all special summoned monsters on Cassius' side. "You will have to catch it first!" Cassius responded swiftly. He activated his trap, Interdimensional Matter Transporter, to remove his own card from the field for one turn. "What?" The XYZ-guild soldiers cried out as Clear Wing vanished. Blaze Falcons lasers went straight on towards and the poor unfortunate secretary's desk. Eleanor gave a loud shriek, as the beams phased harmlessly through the walls, and fainted.

"Huh? It didn't blow anything up?" Alice was surprised. "He did not turn on solid vision." Iria did not know what to make of that either. Most other XYZ-duelists would not care about the damage their holograms caused. "Maybe he really does not want to hurt innocent people." That was what Cassius claimed, and he probably was a better judge of Adamant's character then they were. "Not taking that chance. Hmph, if only there was a way to even the odds." Dom cursed. With the barriers that the XYZ-guild had put up, nobody from the outside could get in. "There could be a way.." Alice suddenly had an idea. "Uh, Mister Dom; how do you make holograms?"

"A miss, for this turn." Back at the Duel, Adamant saw the writing on the wall. He attacked anyway. Blaze Falcon came straight after Cassius. "I banish Tri-Eyed Dice and negate the next attack!" Cassius could activate the effect of the tuner dice from his graveyard to deflect the Raidraptors strike. This way the Falcon could not get off its secondary destruction power either. Though there were no monsters left to destroy either way. "... Your turn, Synchro-Guild." Adamant placed two of his cards face-down in the spell/trap zone. "I know you know my name... Adamant." Cassius claimed as he started the next turn. "Only the strong may live, Synchro-guild. Even if one name stands out among the masses, I will forget it if it never proved itself worthy."

"You're talking like duelists are about to become an endagered species. I suppose we'll get the full story from you if I do manage to beat you. I summon Speedroid Pachingo Kart!" Cassius summoned a Pachingo-themed GoKart roid(4/1800/1000). "I activate its effect!" By discarding one card, Pachingokart could destroy any monster on the field. "..Emperor on his Throne." Immediately Adamant dashed any attempts at targeting Blaze Falcon when he flipped his continuous trap card; The Emperor on his Throne. Blaze Falcon could no longer be affected by any other cards. "I never said I was going to destroy your card, Adamant!" The Gokart launched a blue pinball at Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. "His own card?" The XYZ-soldiers gasped as it looked like the synchro dragon was about to die. Except instead of doing that, it absorbed the effect. "Clear Wing can also negate my own monsters effects, and destroy them!" The Synchro Dragon returned the energy towards PachingoKart and blew it to pieces. Then its attackpoints were added to Clear Wing Synchro Dragon(4300/2000). "Incoming Attack!" The Dragon of clear wings charged the Falcon of blazing war and dismantled it with powerful star-like blasts.

Adamants LP: 700

"Get it now? This dragon is right at home in my deck. You can even argue that was the idea since these cards were meant to be our prizes if one of us won the championship... Like we were supposed to." When Cassius thought about it, it made sense. Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon could very easily be summoned in a deck full of Raidraptors or any Rank 4-toolbox. Starve Venom, from what he had seen, fit with Fluffals. "That may be. Yet you would have inflicted the same kind of damage, if you had not used its effect. You would have kept the card on your field and in your hand." Now Cassius had nothing to use at all, Adamant did not need his permission to move into the next turn. "Would I have done the same amount of damage?" But the battle phase was not over yet; Adamant had one more thing to do. "..You could not have been certain, Synchro-guild. But no, you wouldn't." He summoned a one-eyed mechanical vulture(4/1700/100). "Raidraptor Avenge Vulture.." When Adamant took damage, he was allowed you to summon this winged beast. Now the XYZ-duelist was ready to make his counterattack.

"My turn. Creeping Darkness." Adamant used the spell he drew, banishing two dark monsters from his graveyard to take a level 4 dark monster from his deck. "Mimicry Lanius." Two Skull Eagles were banished in exchange for the Mimicbird(4/1100/1900), which he naturally normal summoned. "Raidraptor Call." Then with the effect of his other spell, he called out a copy of the first Mimicry Lanius(4/1100/1900) from his deck. "This combo, could be it." The intent could not be more obvious to everyone who saw the duel, below and above. As Adamant activated the effects of both his Mimicry Raidraptors to raise the levels of all Raidraptors. He could overlay Mimicry Lanius(6/1100/1900) with Avenge Vulture(6/1700/100) to create a rank 6 XYZ-monster. "This is it, for Adamant. Aaron has him right where he wants him." But Emily still had hope. She could read Aaron like an open book and the face he was making right now was one he usually made when his opponent was stepping into trap.

As Adamant resolved the effect of the second Mimicry Lanius, his opponent cut in. "Adamant, your trap card is Nightmare Archfiends isn't it?" What he said was enough to make Adamant falter, though he did not comment on the question. "That's my guess. You'll XYZ-summon your Revolution Falcon, detach one Mimicry Lanius from it so that it can attack all my monsters at once, then use the effect of the sent Mimicry Lanius to add a new Raidraptor card from your deck to your hand. Let's say Singing Lanius, or Fuzzy Lanius. Something that can be the sacrifice for Nightmare Archfiends. Then your XYZ-monster has four targets, my dragon and three archfiend tokens. All with their attackpoints reduced to zero by your Falcons effect." In this hypothetical scenario, those four attacks would inflict 8000 points of battle damage. It would be a clean sweep. "Why are you saying this?" The only thing that stopped Adamant from performing this move, was the hand on Cassius' facedown trap card. "Because.. your Throne is only big enough for one card."

Cassius activated the trap, Compulsory Evacuation Device. "!" The trap targeted the special summoned Mimicry Lanius and returned it to Adamants hand. "You were banking on your trap to protect your XYZ-monster! But right now its materials are spread over three zones! All I did was remove one!" Avenge Vulture was the monster sitting in the Throne's zone right now, nobody else. "Rgh.." Adamant couldn't do anything about it, he could not XYZ-summon anything with just 2 level 6 monsters. "I noticed a flaw in your dueling, Adamant. It is too streamlined, you rely on Raidraptors and nothing else." If Adamant had any generic XYZ-monsters at all, he could have survived this. Now all he could do was end his turn and let Cassius pull the rug from under his victory plan. "Perhaps I would have lost, without Clear Wing Synchro Dragon. We will never know now. But there is too much riding on this to let pride decide the fight!" The remaining Raidraptor Mimicry Lanius was in attack position. "Clear Wing, attack!" That was the dragons target. "..." The synchro monster eliminated the Raidraptor and his master with an explosion of light.

Adamants LP: 0

"Adamant.. lost.." The other XYZ-duelists shuddered as their commanders lifepoints and his barriers were blown away by this new Synchro Dragon. They never dreamed that Adamant could lose so rapidly. "We.. we have to take him out!" Their trepidation was shortlived. Each of them activated their dueldisk. "Tch.." Cassius had worried that it would come to this. Once Adamant lost the will to fight, his men would act without his orders. "Your card may be strong, but there is no way you can fight against all of us!" Eleven duelists advanced on Cassius. He was pinned down.

"Hey! Who are.." Then things turned around in a second. One of the XYZ-duelists panicked and pointed his arm at the lobby. "Where did they come from?" Several dozen duelists from the Synchro guild had shown up behind Cassius, with determined looks on their faces. "Guys?" Even Cassius was surprised to see them, but not horrified like Adamants people were. "..What did you say again, about there being too many to fight?" One of them argued with the other, and soon a disagreement broke out. "This is not worth it.""It was Adamant's idea.""Roma knew this'd happen." They all distanced themselves from their 'commander'. "What are you.." Adamant realized what was going on and he was too late to stop it. One of his men dropped a device to the ground, while the others covered their eyes. "Gah!" A bright flash filled the entire floor. Cassius kept his hands on his cards. By the time everyone could see again, Adamants men were gone. "They left.." Adamant was dismayed and enraged. "Roma!" He could only curse the name of the one who took his guild from him, as the security guards swarmed him and held him down.

That was not the only guild to do a vanishing trick. "What? Holograms?" Cassius figured out the trick one his 'allies' disappeared as abruptly as they had shown up. "Come on, you did not really think they were real, did you?" Emily, Alice and Dom appeared in their place; previously hidden behind the virtual mob. "Well, no. I did think it was odd, but they looked like they were really there." Cassius would have been confused by either scenario. "Oh. That's just the magic of solid vision, sport! Ever since I transferred those duels in the tournament to the 3D screen, I had plenty of models of duelists in the buffer. Making images of them is as easy as creating a lifelike dragon!" Dom boasted. "But I can't say it was all my work! It was her idea to create a fake army." The master laughed as he pat Alice on the shoulder. "Oh. It was just a crazy plan." She blushed. She couldn't have known it would work this well. "Nonsense. Crazy plans make the world go round!"

"Then how about this crazy plan, master Dom. You've seen now that this place isn't safe anymore." Cassius stared at Dom. The cardmaker turned his head to the struggling Adamant in the back and then back to the synchro duelist. "You might have a point there. Heck, he's not even the worst problem out there.. Soooo, your place?"

(To be Continued in Annex 070: My Kingdom for an Escape Clause)

 **New Cards used by Cassius  
** Speedroid Pachingo Kart

-  
Clear Wing Synchro Dragon

-  
Interdimensional Matter Transporter

 **New Cards used by Adamant  
** Raidraptor Skull Eagle  
Raidraptor Avenge Vulture

-  
Raidraptor Fiend Eagle

-  
Creeping Darkness  
Rank-Up-Magic: Soul Shave Force


	70. My Kingdom for an Escape Clause

**Annex 070:** **My Kingdom for an Escape Clause**

"There's been a change in plans." Zach informed Uno as the two were still on their way back. "Change in plans?" Uno noticed that the helicopter was . "Yes. We will not be flying back to Dreamworld HQ. Now do not be alarmed, nobody got injured. Silver just told me that there was an incident at the tower. Adamant infiltrated the building with some of his men, " Of course how could one not panic after hearing something like that. "Incident? Adamant? Why? How did he even get inside?" Uno thought his friends would have been safe inside Dreamworld. . "As far as they could tell, the XYZ-guild used the tunnelsystem underneath the building to get in. Dom admitted that putting entire networks underneath everything he owned was perhaps not the best idea. Adamant was captured but ultimately, it was decided that it would be better to relocate to a secure position. Everyone is going to Arawn Castle now." So would they. "The Castle? Cassius' place? I guess they will need this then too." Uno looked at the printer.

...

"Welcome back old friend." One long trip by car later, Cassius could finally reunite with his guild. Gareth, Akai and several others greeted him at the gates. "I am glad to be back, Gareth. Has everyone been doing okay while I was gone?" The last time he saw any of them had been the morning before the big incident. "Some bruises here and there, nothing serious. A lot of them aren't here though." In the wake of the battle, a lot of duelists had called it quits. Cassius could hardly blame them. "We at least stayed, chief." Akai and the others were some who felt they had to keep fighting. "Thank you. That is more than I could have asked for." A they talked, more vehicles arrived, carrying the cardmaker and his security detail. "Cassius I am glad you pulled me out of there. It was just in time, dreamworld is up to its neck in government agents and news reporters buzzing about the place. They'll think twice before looking here." Dom himself left his company in the hands of his lawyers and directors. He was technically the chairman, but he let them handle the legal affairs usually.

"We have no problem with you, but what about your entourage?" Gareth scoffed as he saw the man being led out of the car; Adamant. "We're keeping him here?" The former champion was not exactly beloved among the synchro duelists. "We are. We need to ask him a lot of questions, so we are putting in an isolated room." For the time being, they would have put up with it. "He hasn't said a word so far, not about why he only charged in with such a small group or how he learned about the network. Ichirou couldn't have figured all of that out. And what could the XYZ-guild do now?"

"Clearly Adamant is not not leading them anymore. Whatever the backup plan is, it can't be too good if even Adamant wanted to avoid it. Roma is now in charge.. and I can't tell how far he is willing to go." Cassius barely knew Roma. Before this week, he had just been one of Adamants interchangeable elite duelists. "Well, they apparently don't know yet that the Fusion Guild has one of the three dragon cards, so with our luck they are going to keep coming after us." Dom said gloomily. "Then I suggest we turn our attention to each of their facilities. They abandoned them in a hurry, relevant matter could have been left behind." Iria was talking about places like the golfcourse that the Guild had transformed into a training camp. "So you've given up on the mass arrest plan?" Cassius inquired. "I did not give up on it or suddenly start feeling sympathy for their lower ranks, if that is what you were wondering. The plan is simply no longer needed now that we have captured their former leader."

...  
Alice and Emily went to a different part of the castle, where they could call their father in peace. "You're staying? And Aaron is fine with that? What did your mother say? I can come over there if you need me. I am coming over there. They can't stop me." Though they had updated him early in the morning and the night before that, James' own anxiousness hadn't gone anywhere during the in-between hours. "Dad, dad. Slow down. What are you saying? Who wants to stop you?" It sounded like there were complications on his end now. "You don't know? Emily, the country is going wild. They're sending the army everywhere, they even posted a few soldiers in our region. I couldn't go to work. They put traffic in lockdown, no airplanes are coming in or out and all borders are closed. It's all over the news."

"The news? I had no.. Dad. Just stay where you are." She put the phone aside. "Em? What's the matter?" Alice could tell that her sister was troubled. So their father was likely troubled too. "I don't think dad is gonna come any time soon." Emily said. "What!? Why!?" Alice let out a disappointed cry. "More people making things complicated for no reason.. Does this castle have a TV anywhere?"

In a matter of minutes the whole guild was watching the screen. Local and international channels were talking up the attack on Doms amusement park. The whole country knew of the XYZ-guilds misdeeds. "They are not pinning this on us, are they?" Akai griped, once she noticed that no names were mentioned. The reporters made it sound as if the very act of dueling had gone too far. "It's worse." What had been rumors before were now harsh claims from the minister of defense himself. The dueling network was shut down and dueldisk duels were forbidden in public. "This can't be good for the business." Dom was absolutely miserable. First the investigations and now this. "It isn't. A lot of shareholders are getting cold feet." And Iria revealed the next setback. "Not helping, Iria." The cardmaker groaned. "I am sorry sir. But I warned you that this could happen. If other companies catch wind of this, they might try to negotiate a takeover of Dreamworld with the board. We are losing money as we speak.." The future of Doms company was bleak, and so was his mood.

"Ah!" Luckily the noise of spinning helicopter blades cheered him up. His other disciple and Uno arrived at the castle at this hour. "I am so glad to see you!" The master ran up to the two... and grabbed the printer to gaze at it. "Excellently done, Zachary..and Uno. This is a turning point!" He could not wait to try it out. "You're welcome sir. But isn't it too late? They shut down the network." Even their radio the sky had received the declaration of the minister. "Hey we can duel offline can't we? They only said we can't duel in public." Uno saw plenty of loopholes in this decree. "Exactly. I doubt the XYZ-guild or even the Fusion Guild is gonna play along with these rules. We need to be prepared.. You said this printer could give us any card we wanted?" Cassius liked these tidings. "If UNO did the groundwork then sure. I can make new synchros, pendulums, you name it! I just need to update each dueldisk so that they can accept these new cards." Without the network, he would have to do it manually. That would naturally take time. "That reminds me, I need a new dueldisk." Uno looked at Cassius. His old one was gone now after all. "Of course. You can take one of ours. Glad to have you on board, Uno."

A little while afterwards, Dom and the disciples separated from the others. Setting up a temporary station just outside the castle. "I don't know why he said that, Zachary. I told UNO everything about you and Iria." There Zach had the chance to ask his master about the strange fact that UNO did not recognize him as Doms student, at first. "I believe you sir. But why would he lie? Was he tetsing me all along?" Zach couldn't really figure it out. "Sir. I would like to make a request too." Iria was there for her own reasons. "Okay? Let me have it." The master responded. "It relates to the topic of card creation, and my current deck. I would like to make some changes."

...

"Hey Em, Alice. How's it hanging?" Uno looked for the Brand sisters and found them at the cantina. "We're fine. It's everything else that's crazy." Emily had lost count of how many people came by to ask them about how they were feeling. "What about you?" Alice turned the question back to him. They hadn't gotten the chance to talk much today. And after everyone else had left, she was starved for some company. "... Honestly. Drawing a blank." He sighed and sat down at the table. "I feel like I am _this_ close to the truth. Every time I'm not here, I want to get back. As soon as I get back, people keep making me to think about the past..w UNO, the Zodiac Guys."

"Oh! That _is_ a good name!" Alice giggled a little but she stopped herself. "Sorry..go on."

"That is it really.. . Where do I _go_ next? There's so many problems, I don't know where to start. It all feels part of the same mess." Something tied the guilds, the time travelers and even the Prophecy sisters together. He simply could not see what that was yet. "Well, December and his friends are after you. That's enough of a headache. You shouldn't have to worry about anything else.. Like the Man said; dueling is not a game anymore." Emily was perfectly willing to let the national forces handle The XYZ-guild. "But I am in the middle of this too. I don't care where or when I'm from, I don't want to run from anything that affects you too." Could he run? Probably; if he figured out his pendulum crystal. That was not the point. "Well, we're not going to leave you either." Alice claimed loudly. "No. You've proven that. I don't remember if I thanked you yet for what you all did for me." He said with a smile. "I'm sure you did that a thousand times already. At this point, we're in for the long haul." Emily wanted to know his secret too, but they would get there in their own time. One step a time.

Uno wouldn't take more steps today. The hour was late and he was tired. Dom was busy with updating the dueldisks and printing new cards from UNO's database. The search for the XYZ-guild was out of their hands. Right now Uno had nothing to do and nowhere to go. He probably couldn't drive anywhere with his cards anyway, and he wasn't going to leave those behind. The castle was one of the few places where he did not feel restrained where he could sleep freely and close by his friends. After dinner he excused himself and secluded himself in his room to hit the hay. _"Finally got me.. eh Sandman?"_ He said to himself as he plopped down on the bed and slowly closed his eyes. He wondered if he would dream of the Sisters again. His consciousness did not linger on that thought for long, as he passed out within the minute. In dreamland he got nothing but opaque images. Just one segment stood out, a glowing symbol peered through a golden haze. It felt like thin claws were scratching the sides of his temple, attempting to crack him open like an egg. It hurt.

"Gwhah!" Uno rose with a start as the whole picture came into focus. A person stood at the end of his bed, a woman. "June?!" Dream or no dream, this was not a presence to brush off. "If I told you that this was a nightmare, would you believe me?" She pulled back thehand which she had stretched out over his head just a second ago. "I wouldn't count on it." Uno wouldn't mistake reality for imagination again. "Oh don't worry. If I wanted to kidnap you, I would have done it already." June assured him as she saw his eyes travel to the dueldisk besides his bed. "That's very... My pendulum!" Uno quickly reached for his chest. The crystal was still there. "You didn't take it.. Or couldn't?" She had been given plenty of time to steal it, if that was what she was after. "What do you think?" She queried as she moved to the back of the room. "I pick Answer B. Whatever these pendulums are, they cannot be used against each other. You said it yourself; you would have taken me long ago otherwise.. So why _are_ you here?"

"To get answers. I believed I could scan your deepest thoughts while you were not awake. I was mistaken; my prodding merely woke you up. Well, there is always the original method." June picked up her own dueldisk and switched it on. "A duel? What do you need to soften my brain up too?" June had said something to that effect back when August battled Iria. "But you do know that there is a ban on dueling going on now right?" He joked. It was unlikely that she would care to follow the law. "Really? Does your country think that _that_ is going to end their problems?" She had a good laugh about it at least. "Well, you and me are not from this time anyway. So that can't stop us. Sorry, Uno, you are not getting out of this one. I wouldn't try to call for help either, I made sure that nobody can hear or see what is going on in this room." June was not that patient. She had already prepared her cards and drawn five of them. "Besides, I _can_ sense your desires right now. You want answers too."

June's LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"No point in lying to you, is there?" Uno moaned and got up. "I expected you a lot sooner than this actually." He grabbed his cards and his synchro-guild dueldisk. Seeing that new device reminded him of why he lost the old. "You made Dom demand a meeting with UNO, and then you never show up... Now it's just you." The second turn was hers, so he drew his five cards and did nothing else. "Even we have our limits. We cannot ask too much of the pendulums. Since the cardmakers friend never showed up, we did not see it as necessary to intervene. So I return to you. Before you dueled December, your mind went somewhere that I could not follow; outside of time. I cannot see the memory of you restoring your pendulum" June revealed. "Really?" In fact Uno was actively thinking about 'the answer' right now. It was definitely weird that June could not pick that up. "Now I wonder, would you timetravelers happen to have met a trio of fortune telling sisters who go by the name of Veronica, Cloe and Margot?"

"Excuse me?" June appeared utterly confused by his question. "They are the ones who helped me fix my crystal. I met them in my dream." Uno had hoped June would know anything about the prophecy sisters. Sadly that appeared to not be the case. "Uno, that would be impossible. No life can exist outside of time. I think your mind was playing tricks on you; a coping mechanism to deal with your lost memories. We did not take them, but perhaps there was something in there that did not want to be found by us. We will find out once we undo the damage to your mind." As she spoke, Uno's heart started beating faster. " _Undo_ the damage? You can do that?"

"Only if you fight back. A duel must be pure to draw out the pure mind. What I want you to do, Uno.. is to survive." June summoned her first card. "Ritual Beast Tamer Elder." An elderly wizard(2/200/1000) in green and brown robes appeared from a column of wind. "Since I normal summoned him, I can normal summon another Ritual Beast." She normal summoned the bird of thunder(4/1400/600); Spiritual Beast Cannahawk. "Cannahawk will banish Ritual Beast Tamer Lara from my deck." With its electric effect, the hawk removed one of June's decked Ritual Beast cards. "And now, the next level." The woman banished the Tamer and Beast; contact-fusing the two to create Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk(6/1400/1600). "Then defuse." The fusion beast split up and returned to the extra deck. Tamer Elder and Beast Cannahawk were special summoned back to the field. "Eh?" Now Uno was the confused one. June did not even use Ulti-Cannahawks effect. Instead she reused regular Cannahawks effect to banish Spiritual Beast Rampengu from her deck. "Stay with me." Then June contact fused Cannahawk and Elder all over again, summoning the same Ulti-Cannahawk from the extra deck.

"You see, when you have dueled as long as I have, you find every weakness in the rules. Ulti-Cannahawk can return two banished cards to the graveyard to add another Ritual Beast card from my hand to my deck." As her fusion monster selected Cannahawk and Tamer Lara in the banished pile, it started to destabilize again. "Yet Ulti-Cannahawk can defuse first and the other effect will still resolve!" The fusion beast split up and returned to the extra deck. Only the Spiritual Beast Cannahawk was sent to the graveyard while Tamer Lara(1/100/2000) was targeted alongside Spiritual Beast Rampengu(4/1600/400) to be placed back on the field. Ulti-Cannahawks first effect then placed a Ritual Beast Bonds spell in June's hand. "And now you can fuse it again.." Uno expected her to bring another Ulti-beast to the field, which was technically correct. "But I wont." She instead activated a spell card, Emegency Teleport, to special summon a level 3 psychic from her deck. The third Ritual Beast Tamer, Wen(3/1500/1000), was put on the field. "?"

"It's like this; Duelists like you and me grow stronger with our cards. Fusion is my power, and my greatest fusion brings out my full potential. _It_ requires one Spiritual Beast, one Tamer and one Fused Beast. I have two of those.." June activated another spell card; Fusion Tag. "Now I will have three! Fusion Tag changes a monsters name into that of a fusion monster in my extra deck!" June revealed Ritual Beast Ulti-Pettlephin and placed the cards name on the metal tag. The tag was given to Tamer Wen who hung it around her neck. Now she was an 'Ulti-Beast'. "Contact Fusion!" June clapped her hands together. "Ritual beast Ulti-Gaiapelio!" In one turn, before Uno could even make a move, she created the ultimate Ritual Beast. Tamer Lara rode in on the armored lion(10/3200/2100) of the elements. "Geez.." Gaiapelio gave off an intense aura that weighed down on Uno. The entire room felt heavy and hot. "This is your test, Uno. Destroy this card. If you cannot do that, than you cannot find the answers and I will be forced to tear them out.. no matter what damage it does to your mind."

(To be Continued in Annex 071: White Screen)

 **New Cards used by June  
** Ritual Beast Tamer Elder

-  
Emergency Teleport  
Fusion Tag


	71. White Screen

**Annex 071: White Screen**

June's LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

Ritual Beast Ulti-Gaiapelio(10/3200/2100). It certainly was a fearsome looking beast that June had fused together. It could negate any card but only by banishing a Ritual Beast card from the hand. _"Okay, one of those cards is a Ritual Beast card. So I have to maybe waste two cards to get to her."_ Right now Gaiapelio's master only had two cards. "Not maybe, Uno. And not Two either." But then he was forgetting what he was up against. _"She read my mind?"_ June was a psychic, of course she was. _"In a test like this, you must face the most dire of circumstances. That and I prefer to duel this way."_ June gave her answer without moving her mouth. "!?" The words were spoken in his own head, telepathically. It sounded no different from her normal voice. "Spell card, Psychic Path. I activate 800 lifepoints to retake two of my banished psychics." June used the other card in her hand to increase her supplies. The Ritual Beast Tamers Lara and Wen were put back in June's hand. "Rats.." The threat had tripled.

"Okay so.. I need stop thinking. Just go with the flow." Uno drew his sixth card _. "Oh, wait.."_ Before he turned it around he placed his hand on it and covered all but the top edge _. "Purple."_ He could only identify that it was a trap card this way. "Smart." And so would she. "If you're gonna read my mind, I'll just let the computer think for me!" Uno placed this unknown trap down in a spell/trap zone. His dueldisk would tell him when he could use it. "Then I set the scale, Performapal Monkeyboard!" Without a second thought, Uno began activating his cards. In the blue zone he placed the scale 1 monkey on a unicycle. "This will be less successful, Uno." So June banished one of the cards in her hand to negate the activation of the pendulum card. Monkeyboard was burned down the lions fiery aura. "Ugh, sorry Monkeyboard." That was not the worst part. Since the Performapal had not been fully activated, it never actually touched the field. It was destroyed in Uno's hand and could not be sent to the extra deck. The graveyard was its fate.

"Well then how about Xiangsheng Magician!" Uno attempted another activation. "That one too." June banished her second Ritual Beast card to negate the activation of the one-eyed sorceress. She was destroyed by Gaiapelio as well. "One more, Dharma-Eye Magician!" Finally he placed the magician with the golden spikes and flail in the blue pendulum zone. "...?" And this time, no effects followed. Ulti-Gaiapelio allowed the scale 2 pendulum monster to claim a position on the field. "I applaud your resourcefullness, Uno. But even if you act without thinking, your mind still knows which card you really need or want." June was not taking the bait. She saved the last card in her hand for the real threat to her monster. "This is why I prefer working with opponents who I can still surprise.." Uno grumbled. Trying to run through her hand was not going to work. "I set a monster card and end my turn!"

"The Pendulum monster, Performapal Bit Bite Turtle?" June of course saw that face-down monster for what it really was. "If that card is destroyed by battle: it can destroy the monster that killed it. That is your plan. Yet subcobsciously you already realized that it would fail. Otherwise you would have attacked me with it.." June drew one card. "While I had less means to negate it with." She had UltiGaiapelio attack. The great fused beast smashed the cutesy turtle(3/800/1200) with the bowtied-shell and sparkling eyes. "Namely, my Ultimate Ritual Beast can negate effects even during the damage step." June banished the Ritual Beast Tamer Wen from her hand to block the Bit Bite's destruction effect, shattering it again as it tried to strike back. "It appears your trap is not going to help you." The dueldisk never indicated an activation window for the set card. To Uno it might as well have been a dud. "Try again." June ended her turn.

"Hrm.." Uno drew again. This time he did not even peek at the card, he just placed it face-down in the spell/trap zone and waited to see if his dueldisk would reject it. It didn't, so it was either a spell or a trap. That would not be the only card he used. "It's your show, Performapal Trumpanda!" He summoned a young panda performer(3/800/800) who carried a large brass horn around his body. "Your turn!" Again he moved quickly to not let any plans or schemes settle in his mind. The more he meditated, the more prepared she'd be. "This is what you would call Adlibbing, isn't it? I am sure it helps in some cases." June drew another card, and with it she would realize one of Uno's fears. "This is not one of them. I summon Ritual Beast Tamer Lara." She used the blonde female tamer(1/100/2000). The fact that June was not keeping it in her hand was not a good thing. "Bring back Spiritual Beast Cannahawk." Lara special summoned the thunder hawk(4/1400/1600) from the graveyard with her effect. "And banish Apelio." Cannahawks effect banished Spiritual Beast Apelio from her deck. "Your thoughts are right about where this is headed." The crucial step came; the Beast and Tamer were fused together to resummon Ulti-Cannahawk(6/1400/1600) from the extra deck. "Oh boy."

"I can go faster. There's no point in explaining the obvious." June activated both of the Ulti-hawks effects. First it targeted two banished Ritual Beast cards (Cannahawk and Apelio) to return them to the graveyard. Then it split itself up into a banished Tamer and banished Beast; Tamer Wen(3/1500/1000) and Beast Apelio(4/1800/200). Despite the Spiritual Beast Apelio being summoned to the field before it could be returned to the graveyard, Ulti-Cannahawks first effect still resolved and June added a new Ritual Beast card from her deck to her hand. Finally the lions own power was activated to re-banish Cannahawk from the grave and to power up all Ritual Beasts like Ulti-Gaiapelio(3700/2100) for the rest of the turn. And this was only the first loop in the sequence. "Great, I'm getting saddled with reruns." Uno groaned as his opponent rebooted the cycle. She banished Apelio with Wen to fuse them into the same Ulti-Cannahawk. Ulti-Cannahawk targeted its two cards (Apelio and Rampengu), defused into one of those cards and the one Tamer that could still be special summoned this turn; Spiritual Beast Rampengu(4/2100/400) and Ritual Beast Tamer Elder(2/700/1000). Apelio was retruned to the graveyard and a Ritual Beast card was added to June's hand again.

"This will be the last time, honest." Ulti-Cannahawk(6/1900/1600) was fused from the penguin beast and the elder tamer. This third time the Hawk did not chain its defusion effect to its first effect, it simply returned its fusion materials to the graveyard and added a third Ritual Beast card to June's hand. Now she had four cards in her hand that she could banish. "This should be an interesting battle phase. I attack your monster, Uno." Ulti-Gaiapelio targeted the Panda. "My line now then; I activate Trumpanda's effect! He can negate one attack made against a pendulum monster once a turn!" Uno's Performapal started blowing into its instrument. "Then I shall negate that." June banished the first card from her hand this turn. "Of course! Then I'll activate my trap!" Uno's second trap was flipped up. "Command Performance! I switch your monster to face-down defense position!" Uno could have done so ever since he summoned his Performapal, but he waited for this opening.

"A good idea; trying to catch me off guard with a two-pronged attack. However I saw it coming the instant you came up with it.. It is too bad that Ulti-Gaiapelio can activate its effects twice in the same chain." June banished another card of hers and blocked Command Performance. "What? Crap.." Trumpanda was destroyed next, as its effect was shut down. Now Uno did not have anything to shield him anymore. "Take it fast or slow, either approach is wrong. You need a little more." June restarted the attack and made Uno take a direct hit from the Ritual Beast's claws. "Gahhh!" He was tossed against the wall like a ragdoll. _"Ugh.. did anyone get the number of that truck?"_ That was what it felt like. It hit harder than anything the XYZ-guild had thrown at him. "It's not over yet." Ulti-Cannahawk came in next and dug its claws into Uno's body. "Argh!" They did not go deep enough to pierce skin, but there were visible tears in his clothes.

Uno's LP: 2400

"Damn. How is anyone supposed to fight against you guys?" They could read minds, see the past and future and who knew what else? No normal duelist stood a fraction of a chance. "You are not a normal duelist, Uno. You know that as well as I do. The one thing you never forgot were your skills as a duelist." June passed the turn to him again. Despite her words, Uno saw no way out. June still had two cards in her hand and he only had one. It did not matter what he drew, there was nothing Ulti-Gaiapelio could not negate. On the next turn she would get more cards to banish, since she could restart the Ulti-Cannahawk loop. Attacking the weaker fusion would not work either, since Ulti-Cannahawk could just defuse itself if it felt threatened _. "It is hopeless.. What does she want from me? UNO can't print cards for me anymore. I.."_ He drew his next card. _"Wait."_ The very act of which put a new thought in his head _. "Why didn't she.."_ He stared at June. Her expression stayed apathetic. _"Why didn't she use a Tamer on her second turn?"_

"I had it all wrong." Uno finally said out loud. "I can't beat you with brute force or speed. The solution was already there; you do not have two ritual beast cards in your hand!" He yelled, pointing dramatically at the two cards that June held. "What makes you say that?" She asked him, a smile tugging at her lips. "You want me to think it or say it?" His reasoning was in the forefront of his mind right now. Before June attacked Bit Bite Turtle, she could have used the Tamer card in her hand to get the materials for a Ulti-Cannahawk fusion summon. The loop could have been set in motion one turn early. The fact that she didn't suggested that she was afraid of Uno's trap card, that she _had_ to keep the Tamer in her hand... Because the other card in her hand was not one that Ulti-Gaiapelio could banish. That card was still in her hand. "So I only need one card to get through your lock!" Uno activated the spell card he had drawn. Pot of Riches. "I return three pendulum monsters from the extra deck and graveyard to my deck to draw two cards!"

"Suppose you are right, how would you break the lock? It is not that easy to destroy Ulti-Gaiapelio." June banished one Ritual Beast card, and Ulti-Gaiapelio negated Pot of Riches. "I already have the right script, I just need one more performer!"_ "I set the scale, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Now, at the end, his loyal dragon showed himself. The scale 4 pendulum monster was placed in the other pendulum zone to complement Dharma-Eye Magician. "Well, well, well.. Looks like I gambled on the right horse." No consequences sprung from the activation of his card. June's beast had nothing left to banish. "Finally, let's pay her back! Pendulum summon!" With these scales, Uno could special summon every level 3 pendulum monster in his extra deck. Performapal Trumpanda and Bit Bite Turtle were summoned to the field. The latter was in attack position. "If I leave it up to you, you are going to either negate him or kill him with anyone not named Ulti-Gaiapelio. I can't have that, this is gonna go my way.. I..."

"!?" Attack; the word was there on the top of his tongue. Yet he could not say it. Distrust gripped him by the throat, keeping him quiet. Why was he suddenly so scared? _"She is.."_ That woman was not giving an inch, as if she could see his defeat laid out in perfect detail. Was his attack doomed to fail? Did she have a Ritual Beast card in her hand after all, or did she own a handtrap card that could stop him? June was the image of utter calmness, while he was sweating madly. His mind was telling him not go through with it, his heart and nerves were agreeing. He could not spit it out, he could not get to her... _"...No."_ But he had to. Something inside forced him to accept that he had one last chance and this was it. "No!" The battle phase began. "Bit Bite Turtle _will_ attack your great beast!" The turtle sped forwards. It only got halfway before Ulti-Gaiapelio burned it to the ground. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon negates damage done during a pendulum monsters fight once each turn!" The remainder of the fire was extinguished by the Pendulum Dragons pillar of light. "And!" Bit Bite Turtle's effect was triggered by its destruction. The killer was targeted and destroyed itself.

"Incredible. You forced your way through." June stared wide-eyed as Ulti-Gaiapelio turned to pure energy and scattered across the room like a thousand falling stars. "Through what?.. Did you do something?" That fear he had felt before; Uno began to wonder if that was entirely natural. "Ha, just like you cannot lie to me I cannot lie to you. I did try to put a seed of doubt in your mind by putting up a veil around mine. You pierced it unknowingly, with the help of your pendulum. Not as thoroughly as I would have, mind you, but enough to find my own fear." She pulled back her hair, revealing her glowing earrings. "So I took some of your power again?" Uno looked at his own glowing crystal. Their lights dimmed simultaneously. June nodded. "And that means I beat your trial, doesn't it?" He smirked. The deal was for him to destroy Ulti-Gaiapelio, not to finish the duel. That seemed to be their general modus operandi. "Why is it that you sometimes retreat from a duel, what do you have to lose by..losing?"

"In a minute you will learn more than you ever could by asking questions." June waded through the holograms of Trumpanda and Ulti-Cannahawk. "We got what we wanted; our crystals connected. Now I can access the deepest corners of your forgotten self." She walked up to him, and placed her hand on his forehead. "But how can you do this? Where do you teach yourself to become a psychic?" Uno could not help it, he was a man filled with questions. "Ssssh. Let me do the work." June closed her eyes. The glow returned to both pendulum crystals. _"Hmm."_ Uno closed his eyes as well, curious if he would see or hear anything. He did, vague sentences and images floated by. He relived his own past, every bizarre experience flashed by in seconds. He also heard words that could be changed into sentences. _"If we lose life, we forget. If we run, we only lose time."_ It was June's voice. They were her thoughts. "Yrgh!" The last thing they both witnessed was the great eye in the void.

June snapped back and Uno pulled himself free. "I get it..." The glimpses he got were enough to realize that he did get answers to his questions. Not that she wanted to tell him, she just could not stop thinking them. "If you quit a duel, you lose energy and you're forced to leave this world for a while. That's why only you are here, you didn't run from a duel last time." He did not get anything definitive on the subject of her psychic powers unfortunately. All he saw inside was a view of a large endless desert and a flaming red sun. "Everything has changed..." June had received her own revelations, and they had made her shiver. "This has never happened before. This is what the guilds were.. You are not from the future." She dismissed the holograms with a wave of her hand. "What are you talking about? I saw the future, and you saw it too.. didn't you?" He was certain that they had shared that purple sky-memory a minute ago. "That.. was not the future. We would know, we have seen every future that ever was. That, the place you came from, is another time.. a second world."

"What?"

"Wait, what about my memories? Who was I there? Who sent me here?" Uno was getting worried. A lot of memories were shown, and none of them were from before the day he met Alice and Emily. "I can't..find them. They are not there." June said as she was still reeling from her discovery. "Not there? What does that mean?" Uno shouted. "That there is nothing to recover. Either they were completely removed, or you never had any to begin with.. I do not know what you are. You might be Tempus, thougth I do not think you are. What memories you have do not fit with a mind as deranged as his. Still you might have created this timeline yourself by traveling here.. or someone close to you has." She held her hand on her forehead. "Close to me?" Uno had to find out who June was talking about and if he needed to use his pendulum for that, he would. "Too late.." However June did not let him, she hastily teleported out of the room and left no trace of her physical or mental presence. "Damn!" For every answer there were a dozen new questions.

...

The next morning he told the others everything. Whether they wanted to believe it was up to them. " _Now_ it is about parallel universes? Can you prove any of this?" Since nobody else wanted to take the first word, Iria would say it herself. "Well no, but can you prove that other dimensions do not exist?" Uno managed to counter her quite easily. "...That is not the point. Does this information help any of us in _this_ world?" She conceded one point, but stood behind the other. "Maybe.." Alice said, surprising her sister. "Maybe? Huh? Alice, what are you talking about?" Emily was also one of the many who still had trouble accepting everything these 'time travelers' kept saying. "Well, if Uno is from that other place.. maybe UNO is too?"

"Actually, that makes sense." Dom snapped his fingers. "Sir?" Iria was astonished that even the master was going with this story now. "He had to get UNO's special dueldisk somehow and that explains why UNO has never been spotted before." If Uno truly lived in that other time before he lost his memories, then he could only have met UNO there. "There is more to this, possibly." Cassius spoke up. "Perhaps it's not just UNO. Maybe the enemy that Adamant fearscould be from that other universe as well.."

(To be Continued in Annex 072: Eliminate the Impossible)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Bit Bite Turtle  
Performapal Trumpanda

 **New Cards used by June  
** Psychic Path


	72. Eliminate the Impossible

**Annex 072: Eliminate the Impossible**

"Look, Adamant. If you tell us who you're afraid of, and if you are willing to work with us, we may be able to come to some understanding between us and the guilds. I know not everyone is on board with Roma." Once more, the ex-XYZ-leader was 'interviewed' by Cassius and the disciples. His jail cell was a 'repurposed' training room. "Adamant, do you know anything about the possibility of another dimension or timeline?" So Cassius just dropped that theory into the session to catch him off guard. Even that did not get him to talk. The three fell back to another room. "Perfect. Now he believes us to be insane. This is leading nowhere. We have to get more forceful." Iria's patience had evaporated. "That sounds an awful lot like a push for painful interrogations, Silver." Zach shook his head. He would rather not sink to that level. "We should be prepared for the worst, Creffield." She did not see what else they could do right now. "What we should do is use what UNO gave us. If he is from the same world as this powerful enemy, and if that enemy has aligned itself with one of the guilds, then we need the new cards." The printer was fully integrated into the system by now. They could start creating their weapons whenever they wished. "I agree, I want to start training as soon as possible." Cassius nodded. "Well, see who volunteers then.."

...

That volunteer turned out to be Akai. She asked for new pendulum monsters and got them. She also got Boris to duel her in one of the training rooms, while Cassius, Zach watched from the sidelines. "Oh. You started? Did any of them use pendulum cards yet?" Uno joined in after a few turns. "Yes and no." Cassius answered swiftly. "Good.." Uno had to see this. These cards could very well draw a reaction from his crystal.

Akai's LP: 8000 Boris' LP: 8000

It was Boris' turn, he had previously synchro summoned X-Saber Souza(7/2500/1600). "Slice it up!" It attacked Akai's face-down monster; Symphonic Warrior Sizerrs, a keytar playing soundsynthetizer robot(4/1200/1900). It was smashed to pieces. "Was that one of the new cards? Not very impressive." Boris let out a chuckle. "It did what it had to. It has a flip effect, well had. I can add one new Symphonic card from my deck to my hand, I take Symphonic Warrior Guitaar." The added card was half monster and half spell. "Yeah I remember pendulum cards." Boris glared at Uno. "I still don't see how they'll help us beat the XYZ-guild." Boris placed a trap card and passed the turn to her. "We all need to change sometimes. Better to start as early as possible." Akai activated the field spell, Amplifire and normal summoned a tuner, Symphonic Warrior Basses the Bassguitar(1/600/400). Each Symphonic tuner had an effect that could modify Symphonics, including themselves. "Basses will increase its level by one star for each card in my hand." The machine strummed his guitar four times, once for each card in his duelists hand. It(5/600/400) gained four levels. "Now allow me; I set the scale!"

Their dueldisks already had been updated to include pendulum zones. Guitaars was a scale 7 monster, so she placed it in the red zone. "The field is holding." Cassius smiled. "They work just like any other card.." Uno looked at his own pendulum. It did not react to these pendulums after all. Just what made his cards so special? Was it that they came from another time? "Now I need the other one to start a pendulum summon, right?" Akai looked at the disciple for answers. "Correct." Zach told her. "Ah. But, I should still be able to use its effects by itself.. " Akai activated the spell effect of Guitaars. "Guitaars discards one card, to special summon a Symphonic Warrior from my deck!" Akai discarded a Symphonic Warrior Piaano to special summon a Symphonic Warrior Miccs(5/2300/1100), a pendulum monster based on a microphone.

"Thanks to the monster effect of Miccs, I can normal summon another Symphonic Warrior." Akai continued her turn and summoned Warrior Drumss(2/700/700) the drumming machine. "Drumss is going to target Basses." Drumss changed attributes instead of levels. The bassguitar robot's attribute was turned from Wind to Dark. "Then I banish Symphonic Warrior Piaano from my graveyard." Symphonic Warriors could also use their powers from the grave. In this case the selfbanished Piano tuner targeted the Drum tuner. "Piaano turns Drumss into a fiend-type monster." The drummer transformed into a more demonic fleshy machine. "Then I activate the effect of Symphonic Warrior Sizerrs from the graveyard too. It banishes itself to special summon a Symphonic Warrior that was banished." The only applicable target was Piaano(3/900/1300), who was quickly revived from the other dimension. "I will use Piaano's effect again!" Now that it was on the field, Piaano could target Miccs. The microphone non-tuner machine was also demonized into a fiend-type.

"Now I activated six Symphonic effects this turn. Check my field spell if you don't believe me, it collected six Symphonic counters." Amplifire gained counters whenever a Symphonics power was used. Basses, Guitaars, Sizerrs, Drumss, Piaano; all of them had contributed. "All Symphonic Warriors gains 100 attackpoints for each counter." The six counters powered up Basses(1200/400), Drumss(1300/700), Piaano(1500/1300) and Miccs(2900/1100). "I'm liking what I'm seeing. Time to attack!" Miccs fired a sonic blast from his mike. "Not so fast, Akai. Just because we're testing this out, doesn't mean I have to let you waltz all over me!" He in turn activated the trap card, Gottoms Emergency Call. While his X-Saber monster was still alive, the trap could special summon two Saber-monsters from the graveyard; XX-Saber Boggartknight(4/1900/1000) in attack mode and XX-Saber Fullhelm Knight(3/1300/1000) in defense mode. "Fullhelm Knight negates the attack of one monster on the field!" The saber warrior deflected the sonic blast with its bladed whip.

"Oh you always make things about you, Boris. This is not about rankings anymore." Akai, frustrated, had Warrior Piaano destroy Fullhelm Knight and called her other monsters back. Then she removed five symphonic counters from Amplifire. "By using up five counters, I can inflict 300 points of damage for each Symphonic Warrior on the field!" The four Symphonists in the monster zones and Guitaars in the pendulum zone combined their instruments to unleash a storm of sound. "Gah." Boris lost 1500 lifepoints. "And now I will synchro summon Dark Highlander!" For a final move, Akai synchronized the tuner Drumms with Miccs. They had both been turned into fiend-types for this purpose. The scythe-wielding hell king(7/2800/2300) could only be made from demonic synchro materials. "Not cool, Akai." As long as it was on the field, neither player could synchro summon, much to Boris' annoyance. "Just admit it, with these pendulums it is a lot easier to synchro summon. Look at what happens to the materials." Miccs, as a pendulum monster, went to the extra deck instead of the graveyard. This way synchro materials could continuously be recycled.

Boris' LP: 6500

"Exactly. we could even create pendulum tuners, if I min/max some traits." Zach said proudly. "If that is the case, why not just print cards that can win us the game in one turn? It is not as if the XYZ-guild can get their hands on them now." Boris asked the obvious question. "The device does not work like that. UNO made it so that cards still have to be balanced." There were rules, not even Dom or the disciples could break those. "Hmph. If this is a war then who gives a damn about what's fair? Point is, these new cards aren't that good. You could have done better without them!" Boris took his turn and activated a spell card, Saber Slash. "Like this! With this card I'm gonna destroy two of your cards, because I have two Saber monsters!" The swords of Boggartknight and Souza began to glow. They made waves with the blades that slashed through Symphonic Warrior Piaano and Dark Highlander. "Synchro monsters are our advantage. I wont let anyone stop that!"

"Torapart." Boris normal summoned the palindrome warrior tuner(2/600/600). He tuned it with Boggartknight to create the Kabuki demon warrior; Goyo Predator(6/2400/1200). "Goyos? Now you're using Gareths cards against me?" Akai remembered Boris taking that card as an Ante during a previous duel. "Everything goes, Akai. Time to be destroyed!" Goyo Predator attacked and destroyed Basses(1/700/400). The Predator could take control of those it killed, so the Basswarrior(1/600/400) was summoned back to Boris' side. "By the way Chief; what about the other thing? Shouldn't we be training against solid vision? I was there, and those attacks hurt." Though his attack did decent damage, Akai felt nothing of it because the holograms were not solidified. They _could_ try to turn that function on. "Our guild does not harm people, Boris. We'll find other ways to defend ourselves. " Dom had actually offered it before, but Cassius had said no then and he held the same position now. "If you say so." Boris continued the battle phase, X-Saber Souza attacked Akai directly. "Maybe it's not the cards..." In his second main phase, Boris tuned the stolen Basses with Souza to synchro summon Colossal Fighter(8/3200/1000). "..maybe it's the player." Then he placed a trap card down and ended his turn.

Akai's LP: 3400

"Oh? You're going there?.." Akai clenched her hand. "Too far, Boris. I draw!" The next card she added to her hand was another pendulum monster. "I set the scale, Symphonic Warrior Miccs!" In the blue zone the scale 1 microphone machine was placed. Together with Guitaars, it formed a complete pendulum duo. "Let me be the first guildmemberto say.. Pendulum Summon!" Akai pendulum summoned Symphonic Warrior Miccs(5/2400/1100) from the extra deck. "That's the stuff!" Zach cheered. "That is it? Just one monster?" On the flipside, Boris was let down by the climax of all this build-up. "I'm just getting started!" Akai activated three cards from her graveyard. "I banish Symphinic Warriors Basses, Drumss and Piaano from my graveyard to modify Miccs!" The bassguitar added 2 levels to the Microphone(7/2500/1100), one for each card in her hand. Drums and Piaano then changed the wind-attribute machine into a fire-attribute dragon. All the while, Amplifire kept powering up the Symphonic Warrior(2700/1100) with its Symphonic counters. "Guitaars is gonna use its spell effect as well, obviously." Akai discarded a card from her hand and let the pendulum monster summon a second Symphonic Warrior Piaano(3/1400/1300) from her deck. This Piaano activated its effect from the field to change itself(1500/1300) into a dragon-type monster. "I tune Miccs with Piaano to synchro summon Trident Dragion!" Now that both her materials were dragons, she could create the great red three-headed dragon(10/3800/2800) with them.

"Ooh. Impressive." Cassius saw what she was doing. The XYZ-guilds greatest weapon was its diverse extra deck. Akai's use of moldable tuners and nontuners almost matched their capacity. "One more tune." Akai normal summoned a second Symphonic Warrior Drums(2/1300/700). It targeted itself and changed its type into a warrior-type with its effect. "What was that for?" Boris asked her. "Oh. Those who can count would know." Akai nodded at her field spell. "Six more symphonic effects were activated. Seven counters.." She removed all the counters from Amplifire. "Five counters inflict burn damage, but seven.. will let Amplifire banish one of your cards for each Symphonic Warrior on my side!" The spell amplified the sounds of her two pendulum spells and of Drums, their mixed music reached the entire field. "Ugh.." Goyo Predator, Colossal Fighter, his set trap card; they were all banished by the soundwaves. "And Trident Dragion can attack two more times by destroying two cards I control!" The two extra heads of the dragon grabbed both Miccs and Guitaars from the pendulum zone and swallowed them. "Just because it's a war does not mean everything goes, Boris! Someone showed me that duels should be about fun. And I'm going to have a lot of fun with this.. Trident Dragion, direct.."

"My apologies." The direct attack almost became an attack on the hologram of Iria, as it appeared in the middle of the dueling room. "Wha?" Akai's monster froze. "An urgent matter has come up, and I believe sir Cassius and Creffield should be informed. We are waiting at the entrance." Her projection vanished and so did the other holograms. "Hey! I was about to win this!" Akai protested. "Sorry, Akai. But if Iria says it's important, we need to see her. The testrun proved succesful either way." Zach and the others walked out of the chamber. "Too bad, Akai." Boris snickered. Before she could tell him to 'put a sock in it', Uno stepped in. "It proved enough to. You'll make an excellent pendulum duelist, Akai." He said with a smile. "Eh, thanks."

...

Dom, Iria, Zach, Uno and Cassius reconvened at the castle gates; where dire news was shared. "It is worse than I expected. The board of directors and our shareholders have been approached by the Fusion Guild. They are going to accept their offer. And that is not the worst part." Iria stated grimly. "The fusion guild taking over my precious company? What could be worse than that?" Dom did not want to listen anymore. "Dame Phoebe of the guild has sent us an ultimatum. We are to meet her and give her the two remaining cards willingly in exchange for the one she has." She showed them the mail she had sent. "Two for one? That doesn't sound very fair. Why would she even give one of them back?" Uno thought one side needed all three of them. "She probably already copied the part of the decryption code inside the fusion dragon, that clever minx. She doesn't want to have the information for herself, she wants to make us part of her guild. And we can't really argue with the way things are developing. Soon she might own Dreamworld and then the law will be on her side." Dom shook his head. He should never have left the tower.

"Wait a second.. this says that Eric will be there for the meeting." Uno said as he read the last part of the mail. "Eric?" And Emily was standing close enough to overhear that. "Eric is going to be there?" She forced her way into the group. "She could be lying. Even if she isn't, she could be using him as leverage. I see no other reason why she would mention Eric's name so carelessly." Dame Phoebe did not strike Cassius as the type to set up encounters if they did not also benefit her in some way. "Yeah it is a trap, so what? We have to get that idiot out of there!" Emily didn't care what anybody said or would say, Eric was still their friend. He had to be. "I admire your trust, miss Brandt. But even then we can't just give the fusion guild what they want." Dom cheerlessly concluded. "No.. we should give them what they want. _Exactly_ what they want." Uno made a gleeful proposal. "Have you gone mad?" Iria snapped at him. "Far from it.."

...

Though most of Phoebe's terms were non-negotiable, the location was theirs to choose. Zach made the decision; they would see each other inside the grand hall of the national museum of history. It was in a city close by and it was a spot Zach was very familiar with. There were plenty of people and plenty of guards, the fusion guild would not try anything here and the XYZ-guild could not intercept them either. "Hello Dame." He, Iria and several bodyguards were there to represent Dreamworld. "Greetings Zachary Creffield and Iria Silver." Phoebe, Eric and several lawyer figures arrived to speak for their side. "Eric..How are you?" Uno was the odd man out. As much as Emily wanted to be there, Cassius had advised her not to come. They did not want to give away that Dom was partnering up with the Synchro guild, so nobody from that group came here. Uno on the other hand wouldn't let anyone tell him where he could be. "Uno, I.." Eric looked confused, though not harmed. He was not sure why he was here. Phoebe did most of the talking. "Where is Dom?"

"Considering the recent attacks on his person, we decided to take his place. We have the full authority to handle this trade." Zach produced a contract which one of Phoebe's lawyers looked over. "Well. We don't have to be so formal. Nothing is definite yet." She twiddled her fingers. "Eric. You want to be with them, don't you? Show them what you stole." She glared at the kid. He flinched and took a card from his dueldisk. "Yes. I..am sorry for what I did." In his hand was Starve Venom Fusion Dragon. "So you brought your end of the bargain." Iria gestured at one the guards. He opened a suitcase, which carried Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon inside. "As did you, how sweet! Now we can start the trade! Don't worry, you will get your cards back as soon as he extracted the code. We will have the set and so will you, it will be the beginning of a wonderful partnership." She beckoned for them to come closer with her cards _._ "Do it." Iria made it happen. "Thank you." Phoebe gave the two dragons to her lawyers, while Eric gave his to Iria. "Eric. What happened? Why did you take that card?" Uno could not imagine Eric would do something so low. "...I.." But Eric was struggling to find the answer. "Well if this is all."

"We're not finished just yet, Dame Phoebe. First we have to verify its authenticity." Iria inserted the fusion dragon into her dueldisk. "Is that necessary? You and I both know that there is only one such card in existence." Phoebe tried to play it cool. "...!?" Alas, she was talking to Dreamworlds chief examiner, a woman who would not overlook the minute details that made one card differ from the other. "This card is a fake!" She had gotten these readings before, way back in Vice's shop. "It was you after all! You were the ones who source of the forged cards!" Only that could explain why she had a 'second' Starve Venom Fusion Dragon. "You were trying to drive us out of business all this time with your faked merchandise. Now you finally got your way."

"Well you caught me redhanded.. eheheh. Eric!" Phoebe snapped her finger. "Urgh..gah! Yes.. Dame!" Eric stepped back and turned on his dueldisk. "I challenge you to a duel!" He entrapped Iria before she could engage Dame Phoebe. "Eric? Why!?" Uno cried. "This is for.. her sake." Eric stood before Dame Phoebe, giving her a chance to retreat. "This is not the time or place for this!" Zach shouted. "It is the perfect time, disciples!" The bodyguards who attempted to surround the two-faced girl, became the surrounded. "Huh?" The museum-going public had swarmed all of them. "It's been lovely, have fun!" Phoebe made good use of this opportunity and waved them goodbye, with the two cards in hand. "Phoebe!"

(To be Continued in Annex 073: Towards the Lowest Circle)

 **New Cards used by Akai Diaz  
** Symphonic Warrior Sizerr  
Symphonic Warrior Guitaar  
Symphonic Warrior Basses  
Symphonic Warrior Miccs  
Symphonic Warrior Drumss  
Symphonic Warrior Piaano

-  
Dark Highlander  
Trident Dragion

-  
Amplifire

 **New Cards used by Boris Jenner  
** XX-Saber Fullhelmknight  
Torapart

-  
Goyo Predator

-  
Saber Slash

-  
Gottoms' Emergency Call


	73. Towards the Lowest Circle

**Annex 073: Towards the Lowest Circle**

"Don't just stand there gawking. Go after her, she broke her own terms!" Iria yelled at her bodyguards and Zach, who were struggling with the people around. They were acting as if they were sleepwalking, even the museum staff. "On the double!" Zach and a few guards made their way through at least, since these people offered no active resistance. "What is wrong with them?" This had happened before in the stadium, though Uno hadn't been there for that. "Perhaps they were drugged? I do not know nor do I care." Iria had to get rid of a duelist first, she trusted Zach to find Dame Phoebe. "Iria, wait. Maybe I can talk to him. Eric; you don't have to do this, Phoebe's gone now." Uno wanted to understand Eric's devotion to the Fusion guild. "Stay out of this Uno. He is a traitor first and foremost, and he shall be dealt with as such." But Iria had her mind set on a fight. "I.. was with them to begin with! You tried to make me betray them!" Eric quickly drew five cards along with Iria. "I have to take _you_ down!" Eric placed a trap card down and a monster card and ended his turn.

Eric's LP: 8000 Iria's LP: 8000

"You came to us, Stonewell, driven by some sort of admiration for our.. my prowess. You wanted to learn, to help. We placed you inside that guild. All of that was a ruse, I see that now." Iria went all out. Her first card was the spell; Pantheism of the Monarchs. "I must discard one Monarch card to draw two new cards." Iria discarded a Strike of the Monarchs spell card, and drew twice. One of those cards was a monster, which she special summoned from her hand by creating a defending Vassal-token(1/800/800) on Erics side of the field. That was the effect of Mithra the Thunder Vassal(2/800/1000). "Monarchs? A Vassal?" Uno had counted on seeing the Qliphorts again. "You stopped using your pendulum deck?" Mithra was a card from Iria's other deck; the monarch set. "I decided that I prefer these cards, that is all." She stated plainly. _"I didn't know you had preferences.."_ Uno thought. He wisely kept that comment to himself. "These are the same monsters I saw you use when we first met.." Eric was surprised too, and annoyed. "Are you underestimating me?" He activated his trap card, Misschief of the Gnomes. "This trap cuts the levels of all monsters in a players hand by 1! And I can activate this trap card from my graveyard as well!" Eric banished Misschief of the Gnomes as soon as it dropped down there. With two activations, the levels of all monsters were lowered by two for the rest of the turn.

"You conspire to seal my tribute summons." Monarchs could only activate their effects if they were tribute summoned and nobody could tribute summon a level 4 Monarch. "This is not the way to do it, Stonewell." Iria had her own cards to activate from the graveyerd. "We are not talking about how you are perceived, but about the choices you have made. I banish Pantheism of the Monarchs, now you must decide." After banishing that spell, three Monarch spells were selected; Tenacity of the Monarchs, Return of the Monarchs and The Monarchs Storm Forth. Eric had to determine which one Iria could add to her hand. "Hmph." Eric pointed at the middle card. The other two cards were shuffled back into the deck. "So it is." Iria also banished the Strike of the Monarchs spell from the graveyard. "All my monsters will now possess an element of _my_ choosing. I choose earth." Mithra's colors turned rockbrown. "Level 6 has become level 4..and level 8 has become level 6."

"Ergh.." Eric gulped. He had not taken the Mega-Monarchs into consideration. "I activate the continuous spell, Return of the Monarchs, and I tribute summon Granmarg the Mega Monarch." Mithra was sacrificed for the mega-form of the earth-emperor; Mega Granmarg(6/2800/1000). "Now three effects activate. Granmarg destroys one card that is set." Erics face-down Absolute King Back Jack(1/0/0) was crushed in between two sharp rock pillars. "As its sacrifice was of the earth element, MegaGranmarg may draw one card. And through the Return of the Monarchs, I may add a monster with 2400 or 2800 attackpoints and 1000 defense points to my hand." Iria drew one card and added Zaborg the Thunder Monarch to her hand. "Where are the cards we provided you with, Stonewell? Did you abandon them too?" Iria had Mega Granmarg destroy the Vassal token with an attack. Then she placed a trap card down and ended her turn.

"So what if they are _your_ cards? It's not the card who makes the duelist, it's the man! And that's what I am! You said I admired you? I never did! There is only one woman I fight for and that is Dame Phoebe!" Eric pounded his chest and drew his next card. "Now you get to decide. I activate Reasoning! Name a level, Iria!" His spells outcome depended on what level Iria would call. "..One." She went as low as she could, knowing the kind of cards his Infernoid deck had. "Heh. Now I reveal cards from the top of my deck until I get a monster that I can normal summon it.." Eric pulled out two traps, one spell and four Infernoids; until he got his hands on Gren Maju Da Eiza. "Too bad, it's Level 3. I can special summon him!" Reasoning discarded the other cards and summoned the crimson demon beast(3/0/0) emerged in attack position.

"Three in the grave for food, the last shall live..and rise!" Eric banished three of his discarded Infernoids, to fulfill the summoning requirements of the fourth; Infernoid Devyaty the faceless hellworm(9/2900/2900). "Devyaty destroys all spell and trap cards on the field!" Erics monster spilled purple blood across the museum floor. Iria's trap was dragged down into a sanguine abyss. "Is this what you wanted, Iria?" There was nothing in his way now. Devyaty destroyed Granmarg with a blast of fiery sludge from its mouth. The disciple herself faced the wrath of Gren Maju Da Aize(3/1200/1200), whose effect had increased its attackpoints by 400 for each of Eric's banished cards. _"Devyaty?"_ Throughout this turn, a question built up inside Uno's mind. "Eric.. wasn't her name Lilith?" Eric loved using the unedited names of his monsters, when did that change? "Lilith? That's what I said." Eric hadn't even caught on. He placed another trap card down and ended his turn.

Iria's LP: 6700

"Iria. Eric is not himself! He has to be brainwashed or something!" Uno pleaded with the disciple. Alas, she was unwilling to listen. "There is always 'something' with you. Whatever is in play, it does not change the fact that I must and shall win this duel!" Iria summoned a dark vassal-like monster, Eidos the Underworld Squire(2/800/1000) "Now that Eidos is summoned I may normal summon again this turn." The squire in ashgrey armor was sacrificed for a different ruler, an emperor of light(5/2400/1000). "I summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch." With the aid of Return of the Monarchs, Iria added Mobius the Frost Monarch from her deck to her hand. "Your Infernoid will be destroyed." Zaborg clapped its hands together to release a burst of electricity. "You're wrong again, Iria!" Eric countered with his monsters effect. "Don't tell me you forgot that Devyaty can negate a monsters power by sacrificing one of my other monsters!?" The Infernoid demon devoured Gren Maju da Eiza and used its lifeforce to reflect the lightning. Zaborg was struck by his own thunderbolts and destroyed.

"I never forget." This destruction however was part of Iria's plan. "Nor do I forgive." She activated a spell, Card Advance. "I re-arrange the top 5 cards of my deck now, and afterwards, I may normal summon a third time." Iria sorted her deck. "The tribute will be yours." The woman in black activated The Monarchs Storm Forth; her spell removed Infernoid Devyaty for a tribute summon. "Damn it!" The great demon served Mobius the Frost Monarch(6/2400/1000) as its sacrifice and now Mobius would use its power to destroy Erics trap card. "Stop thinking that it's going to be easy!" Eric had no choice but to use that normal trap while he still could. "Eye of the Void! No matter what, I can now special summon one Infernoid from my hand!" The air was torn open by a wave of black acid, creating a portal. "Go, Attond.. I mean Adramelech!" The helldragon duke(8/2800/0) was the one who escaped its infernal prison. "Tsk." Mobius had no targets anymore, and it could not fight against this monster either. "I end my turn."

"That's right you do! You may know every card you ever made, but you do not know _me_!" Eric started his turn. He drew a card and placed it face-down in the spell/trap zone. "Kill!" Infernoid Attondel attacked once, slaughtering the Ice emperor with its claws and teeth. "What about us? What about Emily and Alice? Did they not see the real you either, after all this time you spent together?" Uno had to try; Erics true self had to be in there somewhere. "You were in my presence, but you were not with me. I.. I saw what was going on. You laughed about me behind my back! You called me weak and wanted me to go back to cry to my mother!" Eric growled. "That is not what happened!" Uno protested. "Quiet! I don't need you anymore, Uno! I have better teachers now!.. Attondel, Again!" A monster summoned by The Eye of the Void had its effects negated for one turn. Seeing as how it was Erics turn now, Attondel could unleash its full power after it destroyed Iria's monster. It made a second attack in a row, against Iria herself.

Iria's LP: 3500

"I've had enough of this." Iria's turn started after Erics battle phase, as he did nothing else. "You have to pay for your actions, Stonewell!" She activated the grave-effect of Eidos the Underworld Squire, banishing it to special summon a monster with 800 attackpoints and 1000 defense points from her graveyard. "You don't get to control my future!" So Eric activated one of his graveyard effects. "I banish Absolute King Back Jack! He will excavate one card from my deck, and activate that card if it is a trap!" The tiny demon with the jet backpack thrust itself out of the grave and snatched the card on top of Erics deck. "Fiend Comedian!" It was not the trap card that he hoped for, but it could have been worse. "I call heads!" Fiend Comedian made him toss a coin. If he called it right, Iria's entire graveyard would be banished. ".." But the virtual coin his disk tossed landed on Tails. "Goddamnit." He called it wrong; Fiend Comedian would discard a number of cards from his deck, equal to the number of cards in Iria's Graveyard. Five cards were sent, including one Infernoid.

"Why do you bother?" With that out of the way, Eidos' effect resolved and Mithra the Thunder Vassal was revived. "I special summon one of my monsters by switching the position of your monster." Landrobe, the Rock Vassal(2/800/1000) could call itself out, once Infernoid Attondel was forced into a face-down defensive position. "I tribute Thunder Vassal to summon my Shadow Monarch Caius!" The servant of thunder was vanquished to breathe life into the ruler of shadows, Caius(6/2400/1000). Upon its summon, it would banish one card on the field. "Your Infernoid is gone." Attondel was sucked into another dimension by the darkness. Of course that was not all. Return of the Monarchs added another Monarch-monster to Iria's hand. "Then.. I tribute my Rock Vassal to summon my Storm Monarch, Raiza!" The servant of rocks was broken to pieces by a green whirlwind. The Emperor of the wind(6/2400/1000) made landfall. "Your face-down monster will be your next draw." Raiza's effect pushed one card on the field back in time. Eric had to put a spell card on top of his deck. "Now, my Monarchs attack." Raiza and Caius combined the forces of the dark and the tempest and trapped their opponent in a pitchblack hurricane.

Erics LP: 3200

Eric emerged from the turbulence, disoriented and agonized. "Ngh.. Not..again." That attack had done more than hurt his lifepoints. "What are you doing?" Iria was not using solid vision, she saw no point to acting like she was. "Not you.. the other.. she is in on it too, trying to make me weak!" Eric shouted, seemingly at no-one. "She? Who are you talking about, Eric?" It couldn't be Iria, and Uno did not think it was Emily or Alice either. "The psychic woman, the one who embarrassed me in front of Dame Phoebe. You.. did.. You tricked me! But I wont fall for it!" He kept talking as if June was right there in the gallery when she clearly was not. "Is she referring to June?" Iria couldn't make sense of this. "I think so. He must've run into her again.. Oh!" Uno remembered June's words, how her powers worked better when a duelist had less lifepoints and less strength. "Eric! She was trying to help you, trying to bring back memories you forgot or lost! Whatever the Fusion Guild did to you, it 's not the truth! You have to fight it!"

"I do not..want to!" Eric sputtered as his turn approached. Iria had placed a trap down and ended her turn. "I am strong now! I.." Eric drew his spell again, Parallel Void Fusion. With that card he could fuse Infernoids together from his hand, field, or even from the banished zone.. as long as he controlled no other cards. "I have the power of fusion, you will not take that away! Gah!" Yet for all of his boasts and claims, the pain in his head only got worse. "Stop it.." He kept seeing unfamiliar images, receiving warm feelings and happy memories. None of them fit with the picture the Fusion Guild had painted for him. "I..." The visions were merging, the two faces of Phoebe haunted him. One side was laughing, the other was cursing at him to do what had to be done. "I.." Eric started to sweat. It could be so simple, his fusion Infernoid could decide the duel. "Phoebe.." He could feel her claws around his neck, choking him. "Leave me alone!" He placed a card on the field.

 _Parallel Void Fusion, Normal Spell  
_ _Fusion summon 1 "Infernoid" Fusion monster from your extra deck, using monsters from your hand or your side of the field as Fusion materials.  
_ _If you control no cards, you can also use banished fusion materials that are listed on the Fusion Monster, shuffle those banished materials into your Deck.  
_ _But you cannot special summon monsters except by fusion summon, if you summon a monster this way._

That card was not the spell. It was the other monster that he had in his hand, an Infernoid tuner(1/500/200). "Infernoid Decatron sends one Infernoid from my deck to the graveyard!" The tuner dismissed Infernoid Antra from the deck. That level 3 demon surrendered its level stars, name and effect to Decatron(3/500/200). "Then I will special summon Infernoid Asmodai from my graveyard!" By banishing two Infernoids, Attondel and Devyaty, the winged demon king Piaty(5/2200/0) rose from the pits of death. "I don't need the guild either!" Eric removed the tuner and Infernoid Piaty. "I synchro summon Crimson Blader!" Two fiends were synchronized to create a masked sword dancer(2/800/2600) in crimson insectoid armor. "Eric, you had a synchro monster?" Uno had never seen him with this card. "Yeah. And I bought it myself. I don't care if I win or lose. But nobody tells me what to do anymore!" The battle was set, Crimson Blade targeted Raiza the Storm Monarch. "When Crimson Blader destroys a monster, my opponent cannot summon any highlevel monsters on the next turn!"

"You want to prevent the summons of my monarchs.. no.." Iria almost launched into another verbal dissection, but she held back. "You want to duel as yourself. People seem to believe in your innocence. I do not. However putting faith in one mans trust towards another." Iria shot a quick glance at Uno. "Is what I owe to someone. I was the one who told you to infiltrate the fusion guild, and I must take responsibility for that." After everything she had seen, she could maybe believe in something like mind control. "Still, this battle.." Iria flipped her trap card, Dark Advance. ".. has run its course. I sacrifice Raiza, to tribute summon Zaborg from my graveyard." Dark Advance's effect placed one monster with 2400 attackpoints and 1000 defense points back in a players hand. Then it immediately enabled a tribute summon of a monster with those stats. ".." Eric did not protest, the resummoned Zaborg(6/2400/1000) activated its destruction effect and targeted the Crimson Blader. The synchro warriors body was pierced by the lightning.

"You won.." Even though Eric could still activate his fusion spell, he refused to. "I can still feel her, Phoebe. She's in my head, along with all the lies. End this now!" He passed the turn to her. "Very well. Consider this my aplogy." Iria clenched her hand and sent both the Monarchs of light and darkness into the battlefield. Zaborgs thunder and Caius' shadows eliminated the remainder of Erics lifepoints.

Erics LP: 0

"Nrgh.." The pain Eric felt now did not result from the attacks, but from the hold that Dame Phoebe had on him. "Eric. It's going to be okay! Phoebe is gone." Uno grabbed him gently by the shoulders to calm him. "But I.. helped her. I could not break free on my own and now you have no dragon cards." Eric felt rotten. He regained his senses too late to stop any of this. "About that." Uno was unable to prevent an ill-timed grin. "You don't have to worry, Eric. Those cards we gave them weren't the real deal. We expected a double-cross, so we had copies made." There was no dangerous data on those cards at all. "What? Oh you sneaky bastards!" That was the best news Eric heard all day, he was simultaneously astounded and relieved. "They never said _which_ Clear Wing and Dark Rebellion cards they wanted. Liars get what they deserve." Iria scoffed.

"What!?" Suddenly the mindless masses around them crumpled in and fell into an actual sleep. "This is just like before at the stadium. Why did this happen now?" Had their purpose ended? "Dame Phoebe must have gotten away. Were these people mind controlled too, at once?" Iria grumbled. "I.. I think I know who did this." Eric started to say. "Easy Eric." Though he was clearly strained. "No, listen. Not that I remember how it happened, but I dont think it was surgery or a chip. It was some guy, Phoebe showed him to me. He called him her secret weapon; Martel."

...

Adamant waited in his white-wall prison. He moved only when food and water was delivered. At any other time, you could mistake him for a statue. He knew time was running out and there was nothing he could do, nothing he wanted. But then on this second day, he had a new visitor. Before came those people from Dreamworld or the Synchro Guild; he had nothing to say to them. But this time there was just one person, a young girl from a guild that did not belong anywhere.. "Alice.."

(To be Continued in Annex 074: As Thin as Water)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Absolute King Back Jack  
Infernoid Devyaty

-  
Crimson Blader

-  
 _Parallel Void Fusion_

-  
Misschief of the Gnomes  
Eye of the Void

 **New Cards used by Iria Silver  
** Granmarg the Mega Monarch  
Eidos the Underworld Squire  
Mobius the Frost Monarch  
Landrobe the Rock Vassal  
Raiza the Storm Monarch

-  
Pantheism of the Monarchs  
Strike of the Monarchs  
Card Advance

-  
Dark Advance


	74. As Thin as Water

**Annex 074: As Thin as Water**

"Uh...Hello?" Alice fidgeted as she entered the detainment block. "It's me, Alice. Do you remember me?" She did not really know why she had come down here; either boredom or curiosity. A solid wall of reinforced glass separated him from the rest of the room, yet she still looked and felt tense. "Uhm." Alice gave the glass a gentle knock with her hand and flinched back. When Adamant did not react to her, some of the tension dissipated. "...Can you hear me?" The glass appeared to be soundproof as well. "Oh.. hmmm." Getting a new idea, the girl started breathing against the glass to fog it up. Then she started writing large letters in the fogged up screen to spell out 'Hello'. "Yes I can hear you." Adamant finally answered her before she could start on her second word. "Ah!"

"Did Cassius send you?" Adamant was wary of any visitors, no matter which guild they hailed from. "Cassius? No.. I came here by myself. Aaron is.. Cassius is doing something else, with my sister." Alice at least sounded honest when she spoke. That led to a different question. "Why are you here then? Shouldn't you be with them?" While Adamant might have been stuck here, he could still keep himself up to date with current events by listening to all the chatter that bystanders made. This prison was not particularly well isolated or guarded. Case in point; Alice just being able to walk in. "I was.. but I couldn't stand all that waiting anymore. They were so busy, and wouldn't let me help." She had to get out of there and find something to do to distract her mind. "Wait.. why do you think Cassius would send me?" Alice was confused. She was not the spying type. "Do you really not see why? You defeated me, Alice. You I can respect." Adamant admitted bluntly. "M-me? But what about Cassius? He beat you too." Alice said with a flustered tone. "Cassius.." Adamant could not say the name without retching. "That man is not worthy of any respect, mine or yours. He is one of them, the Enemy."

"The enemy? Don't you mean the fusion guild? They are the ones who are doing all the bad stuff.. well also." Alice couldn't exactly overlook the actions of the XYZ-guild, no matter how pitiful Adamant looked right now. "No. It is not them. It is the synchro guild. I was not sure of it until my duel with him, until I saw the look on his face when he summoned that dragon. He recovered too quickly as well." He asserted, strongly. "But that's not.. He could just be a quick healer. Aaron's our friend, he wouldn't do anything mean. And you, you don't want to hurt people either." Alice disagreed, strongly. Adamant gave her a questioning look and did not comment. "When I first saw you, I thought you were the scariest duelist around. But you said you were worried of an enemy as well, who could scare you? Is it rge time travelers? Gods? Aliens? Beings from another dimension?" Rhe more she argued, the more awake Adamant felt. "Time? ...How much do you know?" The prisoner got up from the floor, his eyes narrowed. "What? I was just guessing.."

"You do not know enough either way. If any of the outsiders deserve to be told, it is you. The enemy.." Adamant grit his teeth. "..is beyond us, they are from a world that has advanced its technology and its powers endlessly. They can reduce cities and people to nothing... they can cause destruction on a global scale. And they have found us. To fight them we need every advantage. We needed Doms inventions, and we need the cards he hides, before the enemy can get them." His voice got more tired with every sentence. Adamant was at a point where he no longer felt the attack had been worth it. "That's." It was a lot to absorb. "Why?" Alice got more distressed with every word. "Because they must, and we must. We each have something the other needs; time. One of our worlds has to die.. and right now our world is weaker. I cannot say more, the enemy is listening. But I will warn you, Alice. Take your friends and get out while you can." He turned towards her, taking steps to close the distance. "What? What is going to happen?" Despite the prison, Alice did not feel safe. Not anymore. "If Roma has not activated his plan yet, he will soon. When that happens, you will want to be far from here. You do not want to be a part of this guild. You do not have to suffer.."

...

"Don't let it get to you Zachary. Sure we gained nothing from that and now the fusion guild knows what we can do, but an even break is preferable to nothing!" Dom tried to cheer his disciple up after he reported the outcome of the museum exchange over the transmitter. _Tried_ being the keyword. Phoebe had given Zach the slip in all the confusion, as it turned out. "Hey they got Eric back, that is worth more than any card." Emily's praise was at least of a stronger nature. This entire time she had been waiting for some news about Eric and it finally payed off. "What the lady said." Dom assumed Zach had heard her. "What's done is done sir. I am more concerned about what we learned here. It has to be the hooded man..." Zach referred to the inexplicable zombie-like trance that had been put on a lot of people around them. IIn the museum-case and the amphitheater the affected people had woken up with no memory of what happened before. All they had to go on was camera footage of a cloaked man lurking in the theater halls. Martel was his name according to Eric. "The Fusion Guild has strange friends. I knew they liked to dabble in the occult, but I did not think they would resort to brainwashing." Cassius shook his head in disgust.

"We will be going now, sir. The cops are done questioning us and they will take over from here." Moments after Erics duel had concluded, the city authorities dropped in. Their late arrival was another suspiciously lucky break for the Fusion Guild. "Probably going to blame this mess on duelists too." Emily grumbled. Though they would be 66 % right. "We'll wait for you here, Zachary." Dom shut down the connection. "Well. Something is finally going, right.. huh Alice?" Emily turned around. "Alice?" This was when she finally noticed that her sister was not in the radio room anymore. "Oh, Alice? Yeah she wandered off a while ago." Dom said offhandedly. He hadn't really paid much attention himself. "Guess she got distracted by something again.. Where is she, Aaron?" Even if Alice had lost interest, she would likely want to hear about Eric. "She was.. oh." Cassius checked the camera feed of the last 30 minutes. "She's at the castle walls now, but before that.. she was talking to Adamant." He pulled up the footage from that conversation. "With _him_?" Emily did not like the sound of that at all. "...If he started talking now, he must have had a hidden motive."

...

"Hey Alice, penny for your thoughts?" Her sister was still at the wallwalk when Emily found her, sitting in between the battlements to look out over the horizon. "Ah..hey Em. Uh, I was just wondering if I could see our town from here. Don't worry, I am not going to fall." Alice laughed and carefully got back up. "I wasn't saying you were. I think we learned that lesson." There were some fond memories; all those times she and her sister dared each other to do reckless things like climbing trees and leaping out of them. Though in the beginning she was the cool sister who started the fun. "..But that's not really what's on your mind is it?" Now she had to be the bigger sister instead. "... I went to see Adamant." Alice quickly came clean. Partially because she wanted to. "I know." The other part was Emily not being easy to fool, especially not when she had outside information already. "Did he say anything bad to you? Do I need to yell at him?" Alice's smile usually hid her distress from most people. Not from Emily. "He did.. He said we had to escape."

"Huh? Escape from what?" Emily had assumed he made threats or insults. This sounded more like a warning. But as Cassius had told her, it was probably a trick. "From everything, the guilds, the dueling, the country. He said that we could never beat their enemy." Alice repeated what she remembered as her tone got more frantic. "And he expects us to run? There's so much going on right now with us, Aaron, mom and dad. Everyone is on opposite sides of the country. Also they're bringing Eric, so that's another thing we have to take care of." Emily shook her head. "Eric? Then.. he is coming back?" For a brief moment, Alice felt genuine relief. But it was soon smothered. "But then. If we can't leave, can't we just go home? Maybe that will be far away enough from all the fighting, and we can take Eric too..." She pleaded. "I don't know what else Adamant told you, but you shouldn't listen to him. _He_ is the enemy and he is trying to fool you. This is the best place we could be right now, sis."

"But I don't _like_ this place!" Alice blurted out and immediately covered her mouth. "I.. I didn't mean it like that. It's not the castle.. the castle is awesome. It's the below parts that feel creepy. All this dueling... People arent playing games. I don't think we should be the ones doing this.." Ever since she had seen the news, she had hoped that the army would handle the rest. "Hey, Alice. Look at me. I'm not saying I want us to jump into battle, I'm not going to ask you to. But right now we're stuck here, and we're with friends. Besides, you're stronger than you think, and I can prove it to you." Emily took out a dueldisk and placed it on the floor. "Eh? Isn't that mine?" Her big sister kicked the device towards her and Alice picked it up. "Eric isn't here yet, so I thought I could help you kill some time. We havent had a simple consequence-free duel in ages, so I wanted to show you that we can still do that." Emily picked up her own dueldisk. "I figured it might come to this, so I grabbed our stuff. What do you say, like old times?" She inserted her cards.

Emily's LP: 8000

"Oh-kay. Maybe this'll help." Alice followed her lead.

Alice's LP: 8000

"Great! Now last time I checked, the score was 19-15." Emily grinned as she started drawing her cards. "18-15! That one with the Unity spell card didn't count." Alice complained. "Alright, alright. But the frontrunner takes the first turn!" Emily placed a monster on the field, a mechanical samurai(4/900/1900) with a magnet on its back. "When Superheavy Samurai Magnet is normal summoned, I can special summon a lowlevel Superheavy and switch the first to defense position. I summon another Superheavy Samurai Magnet!" The first Magnet pulled the card down in defense mode. Once the second Magnet(4/900/1900) appeared, the two aimed their charged armcylinders at each other to create a magnetic current that ran between the two. "Oh, not a combo like this again." Monsters Alice controlled could not attack anything other than the Magnet. That posed a problem with two Magnets on the field, as both had to be attacked yet neither would let the other be attacked. Alice could not declare any attacks at all. "Your move, sis."

"Nhh.. I don't know." Alice looked back and forth between her hand and the field. "I don't see a way through." She placed a monster down and a trap card. "Sorry." After that the turn fell back in Emily's lap. "What? Oh don't be.. With a deck like yours you can break free in no time. I'll be honest, I kinda wanted to see how we would do now.. after so many changes." Emily drew her next card and called out the next samurai. "I summon the tuner monster, Superheavy Samurai Drum!" A steel and gold hand-drum(1/300/300), filled with red pipes, landed in the middle of the magnetized zones. "Tuner?" That was not a good thing. "I..can't let you do that." She responded before an actual synchro summon could take place. The continuous trap card; Vanity's Emptiness was that response. "Hey.. I was only going to synchro summon something I didn't get to show off in the tournament." There definitely were not going to be any attacks done this turn now. At least her Drum was protected by the two Magnets. "Alice, I know you don't like synchro monsters. But I'm still me."

"I know, I'd know you anywhere!" Alice fumed. "It's not the cards' fault. Synchro monsters, XYZ-monsters, Fusion monsters: they remind me too much of what is really going on. Every time one of them gets summoned, I feel strange inside.. " Alice used her next turn to place another monster face-down. "I didn't mind losing before, because it was just a game. I could be happy if you were happy, or if Eric was happy. But it isn't the same with the guilds. I..." She stopped herself. "I don't think this is working, Emily. What if Adamant is right? Why would he lie?" She gave the turn back to her sister. "Because.. ehr... I don't know. Why would he tell the truth? The XYZ-guilders are an bunch of crazy zealots. He'll say anything to excuse his actions.. Is that really why you are worried?!" Emily drew Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei from her deck. "Come on!" She tributed both the Magnet Samurais to tribute summon the her Big Samurai(8/1000/3500). Benkei switched itself to defense position with its effect. Then it slammed its fist into the ground and released a wave of energy that headed towards Alice's facedown monsters. The Great Sorcerer of the Nekroz(4/1500/800) was wiped out. As a card had been sent to Alice's graveyard, the Vanity Emptiness trap selfdestructed. "I switch Drum to defense mode. Your turn again."

"I remember now.." Alice looked up at Big Benkei, her big sisters favorite monster. "Whenever we argued and couldn't convince each other, we just played a game. The winner got to say what we would do. Emily.. I say we should go. You're gonna say we should stay, you don't feel what I feel. So this is all I can think off.. Just like then. If I win, I want you to promise that you will go with me. It doesn't matter where, it just has to be away from here!" Alice drew her next card but waited for her sisters response before she played it. "You say it like you don't trust Aaron. He wouldn't let anything happen to us!" Emily wondered if her sister had been waiting here for her, so she could avoid Cassius. "Just promise me!" Alice yelled. "Okay, okay. But we're staying here, if I win." Emily was taken aback. Nevertheless, she did not see leaving as the right thing to do and had no desire to lose now either. It was tough either way, she didn't want to stop Alice, but she didn't want to leave her side either.

"Thank you.." Alice played her card; Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands(4/1400/1000). "I want Nekroz Mirror!" Manju's effect claimed a ritual spell and sje activated it immediately. "I will ritual summon Nekroz of Trishula!" The Mirror sacrificed Nekroz monsters from her hand and graveyard; the Great Sorcerer of Nekroz and the level 5 Exa Enforcer of the Nekroz. With their combined level stars, the great dragon warrior(9/2700/2000) of the ice barrier was summoned. "Whoa.." This came a bit sooner than Emily expected. Trishula activated its effect to banish three of Emily's cards. Big Benkei was removed from the field, one the Magnet Samurais was banished from the graveyard, and a random monster was taken out of her hand. "This is how much has changed." Alice could use even more effects. The banishing of her Great Sorcerer sent a Nekroz monster from the deck to the graveyard; Nekroz of Brionac. The sacrifice of Enforcer Exa added a dragon-type Nekroz monster from the deck to Alice's hand; Nekroz of Catastor. "So very much." Alice flip summoned her other set monster, the Dance Princess of the Nekroz(4/1600/800). Finally she discarded Nekroz of Catastor from her hand to activate its reviving effect. Exa the Enforcer(5/2000/1000) was special summoned from the graveyard.

"Geez..." Emily was speechless. Her sister had been holding back all this? "Emily, this is it." Manju made the first attack and crushed the Superheavy Drum tuner with its many hands. "Then I will go as well! If Drum is destroyed, it brings back another Samurai from the graveyard!" It was unfortunate that Big Benkei had been banished, Emily could only special summon the remaining Magnet Samurai in defense mode. "Yeah." Alice continued the battle phase. To destroy this monster, she sent in Exa. The enforcer dismantled Superheavy Samurai Magnet with two swipes from its gauntlet claws. "And.. I am sorry, but now I have to attack you too, sis." Trishula and the Dance Princess launched into a joint strike of ice blades and water magic.

Emily's LP: 3700

"This.. is what I was trying to tell you. Just look at this, look at what you can do, Alice!" Despite what it meant for the two of them, Emily was glad to see her sister getting into the game. "No. You're trying to talk me out of it again. Stop it. I wont change my mind." Alice ended her turn. "Alice, why can't you just tell me what really is going on? This is not just about Adamant.." She had not seen Alice act this serious in years, she could usually just brush off any unpleasant experiences. "Wait... are you thinking back.." It had to be bigger. "No! You said we would never talk about that! Never ever!" And Emily was right. The things Adamant said were not the cause. They just reminded Alice of something she had been trying to forget.

...

"Sir? I didn't think you would be calling again." Zach answered a second transmission from the master. "Small matter came up, Zachary. I need you two to do a little scan on something for me before you all get here." Dom estimated that they would arrive in a couple of minutes. "What do you need, sir?" Iria was already with her hands on her portable computer. "I am sending you some files, crossreference those with a scan of the entire complex." The files turned out to be hologram footage of the castle base, recorded with Doms own disk. "What is this about, sir? Do you suspect something?" Zach wondered why he came to them, on his private channel. "Let's just say being unreasonably skeptical payed off for the second time..."

(To be Continued in Annex 075: Decompression Sickness)

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** Exa, Enforcer of the Nekroz

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Magnet  
Superheavy Samurai Drums


	75. Decompression Sickness

**Annex 075: Decompression Sickness**

Alice's LP: 8000 Emily's LP: 3700

"Alice. You don't have to worry. We are the only ones here, nobody will hear us." Emily had touched a personal subject, known only to the direct members of their family. "I don't.. I don't want to talk about it." Alice was terrified, and that terror was linked to that secret. That was what Emily reasoned. "I know, I understand. But I want to help you and I can't do that if you don't tell me what you are thinking. We never told Cassius, Eric.. or Uno. Maybe it is time. You can't keep running from it." A matter like this could not be kept from everyone forever. "I can, I want to! You promised me. You still have to win." Alice wouldn't listen, not as long as this duel was happening. "Very well." Since her little sister had taken the kids gloves off, it was time for her to do the same.

"I special summon Superheavy Samurai Scales from my hand!" Her opponent had four monsters on the field, twice more then was necessary to fulfill the conditions of her scale-wearing warrior(4/800/1800)'s effect. It could summon itself to an empty field and also summon a Superheavy Samurai from Emily's graveyard. "I am bringing Superheavy Samurai Drum back." The hand-drum tuner(1/300/300) re-materialized. "And since there are no spell or trap cards in my graveyard, I can special summon Superheavy Samurai Big Waraji from my hand!" The third piece of her soon-to-be-finished puzzle was the sandal-body Superheavy(5/800/1800).. "A synchro monster.." In total there were ten levels, so Alice could calculate which card would come from the extra deck. "Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo!" The Drum tuned itself with Scales and Big Waraji. The strongest warrior at Emily's disposal, the earthrending Susanowo(10/2400/3800), made a smashing impact on the castle walls. "The card he will attack is your Nekroz ritual monster!" The Warlord raised his weapon and swung it down on Nekroz of Trishula(9/2700/2000). The dragon warrior burst into a million pieces of ice.

Alice's LP: 6900

"Now it's my turn to say sorry, Alice. But I really can't lose. So I am going to have go a little further. Susanowo can take one trap or spell card in your graveyard, so.." Emily used the effect of her synchro monster, and swiped away Vanity's Emptiness. "I take your continuous trap and set it on my field. With Vanity's Emptiness on my field, neither of us can special summon monsters." This was the right time to set this lock, after she had special summoned her synchro samurai. "End turn." On the other side Alice only controlled monsters that could not touch Susanowo, whether he was in defense or attack position. Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands(4/1400/1000), Dance Princess of the Nekroz(4/1600/800) and Exa Enforcer of the Nekroz(5/2000/1000); they all had to be switched to defense mode. "Emily, are you really doing this because you want it? Or is this because Aaron asked you to stay? I know you like him.." Alice questioned her sister now, touching another deep-seated subject. "Hey, what does that have to do with it?!" She reacted with exasperation. "Maybe its been years and maybe he changed a bit, but I trust him a hell of a lot more than.."

"More than me?" Alice looked at her while she placed two trap cards down. "What? No! I didn't say that!" Emily stammered. Luckily or unluckily, a loud noise covered the area before either sister could say anything else. "They're back." It was Zach's helicopter.

The chopper landed near Doms temporary station, which Iria and Zach quickly entered. "Huh. They were in a hurry." The two disciples had been rather on edge the whole trip. Uno wondered what that was all about. "What about you, Eric? Can you stand?" He checked with the other passenger. "Ergh. In a minute.." Eric groaned. He was still recovering from his recent duel, and from the side-effects of Dame Phoebe's mind manipulation. "Don't push yourself. It should be okay to relax here." Uno looked around for anyone who could help him bring Eric inside. "Huh? Alice and Emily?" The only two people he saw though were in the middle of a duel on the castle walls. "You can see them?" Eric was surprised too. "Yeah.. We missed something apparently. Stay here. I'll see what's up."

...  
"Girls, what's going on here?" Uno said once he got up the stairs and reached the castle walkway. "Uno!" Alice and Emily would have been happier to see him under different circumstances. "Alice talked to Adamant, and he got her worried with his doomtalk. I'm trying to get her to see that it is safer here." Emily explained. "By dueling her?" Uno scratched his head. "Uh, yes. At least, It made sense at first." She had only wanted to cheer her sister up, but now things got out of hand. Moreso than with their usual sisterly spats. "But it is not just doomtalk. Uno agrees, right?" Alice looked at Uno with welling eyes. "Agree?" He still did not really know what either of them were talking about. "The other world, Adamant said that the enemy came from there. Like you!" If anyone could ever recognize the reality of this parallel universe, it would be the one who had visited it. "Yeah but.. I still don't remember any of it. Most of it. All I saw that last time was a ruined theater and a strange sky with weird robots in it. I didn't meet anyone there. Allthough if that wasn't the future, maybe that theater did not just get destroyed by age."

"Not the best evidence here." Emily grumbled. She would leave aside the fact that this whole timeline business sounded far-fetched. "As far as I can tell, we only have Adamants words to go on. That is just not enough!" Emily took her next turn and summoned a warrior, a knight(3/1200/400) in silver armor and an chefs apron. "Marmiting Captain. I am going to send a card in my hand back to draw a new card." Emily shuffled her last card into the deck. "If that card is a monster, I can special summon him!" She pulled the card that had now been shuffled to the top. "Oh for.." It turned out to be one of the few traps that Emily's deck possessed; Dauntless Stance. "I set this card. Then I will flip yours face-up." Vanity's Emptiness was finally activated. If even fate was going to put up a struggle, she would hold nothing back. "I enter the Battle phase!" She could still kill two of her monsters at least. Marmiting Captain killed the defending Dance Princess with a quick hit from his soup-spoon. Susanowo stomped towards the bigger target; Enforcer Exa.

"What about my words?!" Alice activated one of her traps, Impenetrable Defense. "Ah?" The very same trap that Emily had lent to Alice when they started their days in the guild. The trap targeted the defending Exa. Because it had less than 1500 defense points it could not be destroyed as a result of battle this turn. " "You always tell me that I daydream too much. But this is not like that! What he's talking about is real, I just know it! And no matter what we do, we can't stop it!" Before her turn ended, Emily reactivated the effect of Susanowo to take a trap card from Alice's graveyard and set it on her field. Alice's next turn came and she was not going to stay on the defense anymore. She activated the field spell, Ritual Stage, and switched Exa the Enforcer to attack mode. "Attack the Marmiting Captain!" The seadragons claws ran straight through the warrior chef. Now that a card had been sent to her graveyard, Vanity's Emptiness destroyed itself and, like all of the warlords stolen cards, was banished instead of being returned to the graveyard. "Ugh. Okay, suppose this enemy exists, and that it is not just Adamant making up things, that does not mean Aaron is working with them. What about the fusion guild?"

Emily's LP: 2900

 _Ritual Stage, Field Spell  
_ _Ritual monsters you control gain 1000 atk during the batlle phase.  
_ _While you control a ritual monster, your opponent cannot target non-ritual monsters for attacks or with effects._

"It can't be the fusion guild either." Said the duelist who had been part of that guild until recently. "Eric!?" The sisters cried out together as they saw their friend climb the stairs to the wall. "Eric? I thought you were going to rest?" Uno reminded him. "That was just me trying to avoid everyone. But I can't do that. It wouldn't be nice.. I came here to say sorry, Emily, Alice.." He took a deep breath. "And also to talk to you about what I've seen. I heard what you were shouting about. I think Alice may be right. When I was.. following Dame Phoebe, she told me all kinds of things. Probably because she didn't think I would ever leave her. I can't picture it that well anymore, she still did not trust me with the details. But I remember her talking about an ancient secret that Dom supposedly was hiding with his decryption codes. And there was this great powerful army from a place nobody ever heard of. She believes that the XYZ-guild is the one who partnered up with this force, that their entire speech about wanting to fight against them is just a lie and they really just want to give Doms secrets to the Enemy. I don't know where she gets this information from though.."

"That just makes them both look worse, they're all pointing fingers at each other and at Aaron too. I've been following _this_ guild. We're all equals here, Aaron never keeps anything hidden from me." They couldn't know that, they hadn't spent as much time with him as she did. "Alice. It is true that you let your thoughts get too creative sometimes. Isn't it possible that you were just seeing something that is not there?" Emily tried to reason with her sister again. She felt like they were going around in circles and getting nowhere. "No. It's not. I'm tired of people telling me that I am imagining things!" Alice snapped and activated her trap; Urgent Ritual Art. "Why can't you just let me do what I want?" While the player controlled no ritual monsters, Urgent Ritual Art could banish a ritual spell in her hand or graveyard and activate that spells effects. "Because I am your big sister! I am responsible for you while mom and dad are gone!" Emily reactivated the effect of Susanowo. It grabbed a spell card from Alice's graveyard this turn; Nekroz Mirror. With it set on her side of the field, Urgent Ritual Art could not target it anymore.

"But.. you're not.. my sister."

"What?" Uno did a double-take. "Alice?" Emily gasped in surprise. "No I.." Alice wobbled a bit as she got selfconscious about the other people in hearing range. "I didn't..mean to say.. That didn't happen." She continued the effect of Urgent Ritual Art and activated a Nekroz Cycle ritual spell from her hand instead. With it she sacrificed her face-up Enforcer to ritual summon Nekroz of Catastor(5/2200/1200) from the graveyard. With Exa's tribute effect she added Nekroz of Decisive Armor from her deck to her hand. "You're not here! Just go away!" Catastor attacked Susanowo. The seadragon could kill any extra deck monster with its new claws, whether they had immense defense or attackpoints. "I was afraid of this.. Alice, whatever you are seeing, it is not real. You're still here, dueling me!" Emily activated the trap card that Susanowo had taken from the graveyard, Impenetrable Defense. "No..Nonono!" Susanowo had more than 1500 defensepoints, so it could not be destroyed by card effects this turn. The attack could not be stopped anymore.

"Emily? What is happening to her?" Eric hadn't ever seen Alice act so stressed. "She's having a panic attack. I can explain later, I have to stop this now." Emily had almost placed her hand on her deck to cancel the duel outright, but the monsters were quicker than her. "I must destroy it!" Alice discarded the Nekroz of Decisive Arms from her hand to make Catastor(3200/1200) stronger. The Ritual Stage field spell added even more attackpower to Catastor(4200/1200). It now had the power to finish off Susanowo. "Alice, we have to stop this!" Her sister was not thinking straight anymore, otherwise she wouldn't have tried to rush blindly into an attack like this. Emily still had one trap left. "I.. activate Daunting Stance!" That trap targeted Susanowo. It would take all his defense points away at the end of the turn, but first it would double his(2400/7600) defense points. "Destroy Catastor!" Susanowo grabbed the charging Nekroz and slammed it down into the ground as it struggled. "Ahhh!"

Alice's LP: 3500

"Hhn... It hurts." Alice reached for her chest. "Why does it hurt?!" Her heart started beating out of control, it felt like it was trying to escape her body. "Alice!" It was not the attack that caused this pain, Emily knew better. She threw her dueldisk away and rushed to her sisters side. "No. Don't.. Stay away!" She tried to keep a distance, but there was nowhere to go. "Alice. I know you're scared, but you're not in danger. Stay with me, don't think about it." Emily carefully approached her. However when she saw her sisters eyes darting left and right, trying to find a way out, she knew she had to be quick. "I'm sorry!" She grabbed Alice and held her close and tight. "Aaaah! No.." Alice's eyes went wide and her breathing sped up. "Let me go, Just let me go! I have to.. I can't stay here! It's coming! They're coming!" She screamed and screamed until her voice gave out. "They're.." Her vision dimmed, and she collapsed in Emily's arms. "Gah! Is she.." Eric feared the worst. "She tired herself out.." Emily sighed. "Guys, please help me get her to a bed."

Of course, Uno and Eric offered Emily the help immediately. They carried Alice to the room the Brandts slept in and placed her on her bed. Member of the synchro guild also offered help, since they did not fail to notice what was happening. But all Emily requested was a glass of water and they went on their way. Once it was just the four of them again, Emily started talking. "So I suppose you will want to know the full stor." There was no way around that, Eric and Uno had both had seen Alice's outburst. "I'd be lying if I said no." Eric conceded. "Same here. But, if you don't want to, then you don't have to. It is your past, not ours." Uno did not feel he had the right to ask it of them, though his curiosity, as always, was very strong. "Too late for that. If I don't say anything, it will just make things worse." She paused and readied herself. It would not be easy to speak about this, she did not know how to begin. "Alice is.." She looked at her unconscious sister, at the girl. "She's not my real sister, I mean.. not my biological sister. She was adopted."

"Adopted?" Uno had guessed it was something like that after what he had seen just now. "I never heard about this!" Eric yelled. "Eric. Please keep it quiet." Emily whispered. Alice thankfully stayed asleep. "Sorry." Eric lowered his voice. "It's not a pleasant story... or one that has a lot of answers. Alice was just.. found one day, around seven years ago." Emily shook her head. It disturbed her to talk about this after all this time. "Some people found her in a forest near Seille town, alone. There were no signs of her family, she had no ID, nobody in town had ever seen her before. She was a nobody." Emily paused to swallow a lump in her throat. "What? Did she get lost.. or abandoned?" Uno did not want to assume the worst, but nothing about this sounded good. "Who knows. Her parents were never located, they could be anywhere living under different identities.. or they could be.." Dead. Emily didn't want to say that out loud. "My mom worked at socical services back then. I'm not sure how she did it, I was very young when it happened. But I think when she heard of this case, and how Alice did not seem to have anyone who could take care of her, she wanted to do it herself. She used her connections and made it so that Alice could become a Brandt."

"I had no idea." Eric was dumbfounded, what could he say to this? "I'm sorry Eric. We didn't plan to keep it from you, it was just easier to pretend because we moved around so much. It gave her a chance of a normal life. She had it so difficult at first, she never talked or left her room. Even now she gets nightmares sometimes. She got better and somehow put the past behind her and that happy smile of hers. But at night she still gets panic attacks.. Alice never really talks about what happened before, she might not really remember. She always made up stories.. to cope with it. Saying her mom and dad were kidnapped by aliens, or on the run from the mob, stuff like that. She never had an 'attack' like this during the day. I think what Adamant said brought back all those terrible memories." Between the XYZ-guild and the Timetravelers, it was no wonder something cracked.

"..Damn it. I should have said something." Uno suddenly realized that this was not that new to him. "Said something about what?" Emily flinched. "At the tournament, when she was about to have her first duel, she panicked then too. I thought it was just stage-fright, and she asked me not to tell you." Uno felt like hitting himself for not realizing what was really going on. "No.. I knew it! I knew she shouldn't have been involved in of all of this!"

"Emily." Soon there was a fifth man in the room. "Aaron!" Cassius stood in the open doorway, holding a glass of water in one hand. "If I had known any of this.. believe me, I would never have.." From the choice of his words one could deduce that he had listened to everything. "That doesn't matter now, Aaron. I.. I have to ask something of you. I know I promised to help you, but I can't.. not like this. I have to get Alice back home. She can't stay here." Home would be safe and quiet, that was what Alice needed right now. ".. I can't do that." His response shocked her. "What? Why!?" She yelled, forgetting to keep her voice down. "It is too late now, I cannot let you leave." Cassius was not alone. A few other duelists stood behind him. "Huh? What? Is this about me?! I told you, I am not working for Phoebe anymore!" Eric grumbled. "This is about all of us. I hate to do this, but the XYZ-guild has forced my hand. Emily, Uno, Eric; come with me."

(To be Continued in Annex 076: In Absence of Truth)

 **New Cards used by Alice Brandt  
** _Ritual Stage_

-  
Urgent Ritual Art

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Marmiting Captain

-  
Daunting Stance


	76. An Absence of Truth

**Annex 076: An Absence of Truth**

Emily, Eric and Uno were escorted to the lower levels of the guild base; the same floor that held Adamant. They were told to leave Alice and their dueldisks and cards behind, for their own good. Cassius promised them answers soon. Emily wouldn't put up with that. "What about my mother, and my father? You're not saying it's too late for them?" She stalled and would not move until she got some answers. "Emily, we don't have time for this!" He shouted as everyone else stopped as well. "Why not? What did the XYZ-guild do? If you don't want us to panic, that ship is about to sail away." Once Uno started asking questions as well, Cassius capitulated. "Fine, I'll tell you now. The army found something at the golf-course, a device of some kind that has been fused with that buildings network. It must have been left there by the XYZ-guild. They don't know what it is supposed to do, or when it is going to do it. It could be a bomb, and it could one of hundreds."

"Hundreds?" Eric sputtered. "Yes. The golfcourse was just one of many stations that the XYZ-guild took over acrss the country. Maybe this is even why they wanted to take over so many of the other guild-stations in the first place, to hide these devices in them." It had always seemed odd that the XYZ-guild would care about ownership deals, especially in light of their actual goals. "Can't they just get rid of the things?" Emily suggested. "They're worrid that tampering with the device would just set one or more off prematurely. So far they figured out that the device can receive and transmit signals. They might have been put on a timer, or set to go off unless someone is around to turn them off, kinda like a failsafe mechanism. The army doesn't want to make a move until they have found them all. I fear they dont have enough time." Cassius clenched his hand. "That is why I need you to stay. I know the XYZ-Guild has not touched this region. If Roma is planning on threatening the country with these bombs, at least we will be safe."

"Fascinating. And how did you come to know all of this?" Quizzed the cardmaker as he entered the halls with a squad of security guards. "Because _we_ weren't told that." From the way Dom was talking, and the fact that his entourage carried weapons with them, it seemed like the Master was in a cautious mood. "Well we were one of the first to find out because we used to own the location." Cassius gave a quick answer. "Yeah that is possible. But I wouldn't be here if I didn't think something was up already. You see I have been wondering one thing ever since we were forced to come here." Dom mused as he locked his fingers together. "And that is?" Cassius asked carefully. "It was rather nice timing of the XYZ-guild to attack our tower right after you speeched about its vulnerabilities. How did the XYZ-guild find out about the tunnel network to begin with? Even if Ichirou told Roma about the one beneath the amusement park, that wouldn't help them find the one beneath the tower. The only ones who knew about it were me, my disciples, the people who constructed the tunnel and my security staff. Silver interrogated them all, and scanned their hardware. She found nothing."

"So?" Cassius did not see the point. "So I remembered there was someone else who knew, you lot." He pointed at Cassius and the others. "What? Are you saying one of us told the XYZ-Guild?" Eric shouted. "Probably not. Even taking your fling with the fusion guild into consideration, there would be no reason for them to leak the information further to the XYZ-guild. They wouldn't want to give them the first shot at us. But who could have benefited from all of this? Who? Someone who wanted to be friends with us maybe?" The masked mans head tilted towards the synchro duelist. "You're saying _I_ told the XYZ-Guild? How would I even have reached them?" Cassius challenged the implied accusation. "Oh there are so many ways to transmit information. It's not the how.. but the 'Why' that needs answering. By getting the XYZ-guild to drive us out of our sanctuary, your guild would gain our assets.. and me. Now this was still a theory, a base to work on. That led us to our next discovery.."

Dom nodded once. The guards drew their weapons and aimed them at the synchro duelists. "Dom, what is this?" Emily cried out. "A precaution. Do you remember your friends unfortunate accident, miss Brandt? We did another check. We told you before that camera footage and network logs did not show a thing. However what we did not do was inspect the medical records and crash site itself. We were too busy thinking like duelists. With visualization machines nowadays you can replicate a crash exactly, just by analyzing the damage done to the road, rider and vehicle. Do you want to know what we found?" His eyes were presumably staring right at Cassius, who did not blink once. "The crash was controlled, it could only have turned like that if the driver wanted it to. Nothing hit you or the bike beforehand. It's almost as if it was 'staged'. How do you explain that, Cassius?"

For a while none of the synchro duelists said anything, they were waiting for Cassius to give his answer. "Cassius.. say something." Emily did not like his silence. Inevitably, he opened his mouth to sigh. "Things are moving faster than I keep expecting. I really didn't want to have a confrontation... But Dom, you should know one thing." Cassius raised his arms and closed his eyes. "This is my home, you have no control here." He opened his eyes again and suddenly Doms security forces turned as stiff as a board, all but one. The remaining guard aimed his gun now at Dom. "Jim? So I was right." The cardmaker had found his 'mole'. "Where are Iria and Zach?" Cassius asked 'Jim'. "I don't know. Dom came to us by himself. I imagine they're still up above." The bodyguard eagerly revealed. "We will find them. Dom, you shouldn't have threatened us." The other synchro-duelists picked up the weapons and dismantled them. "Cassius, if we are going to tell them, we cannot do it here. _"_ One of them said.

"I know. I was working on that." Cassius looked at the others. "Please, do not fight this. I am still doing this to save you. I cant let Dom get in the way." He pleaded with them, Emily in particular. Yet she was too stupedied to find any words. "...Follow me. You too, Dom. Your guards will be released eventually, do not make me use 'freeze' you too." Cassius continued his walk, and Jim nudged the Cardmaker to come along. He did so, begrudgingly. "So _You_ had the spy inside Dreamworld?" Uno barely followed what was happening in front of him. "We are more than the synchro guild, boy. We have have spies everywhere." Bodyguard Jim scoffed. "Oh. So that explains where you get your hot army tips from. I bet you have spies in the fusion and XYZ-guild too!" Eric growled. After his recent ordeals, he could not stand this apparent hypocrisy. "We do. We use them to get information and we let them leak false or true information to the guilds if it serves our ends." The gang was led inside a white room with only a chair and a large machine. "In here."

"Master Dom was both right and wrong. I was the one who told the XYZ-guild about the network, but I am not _his_ _Jim._ " Jim continued explaining. "Not mine?" Dom raised his head. "You're not Jim?" He had noticed a slight and inexplicable change in his bodyguards 'dialect'. "Wait." Uno on the other hand.. "No way. You're... from the other timeline?" He had a suspicion. "What? Timeline?" One that sounded so incredulous, Eric thought Uno was joking around. And yet. "You catch on quick." It was confirmed by 'Jim' himself. "Then again _you_ would." Jim closed the door behind them. "You mean what Adamant said was true? Aaron, you're working with the other side? You knew about it already?" Emily refused to believe it. "Everyone here is the same, Emily. Myself included. We are part of an society; The Circle." Cassius' words offered no comfort. Or understanding. "Huh? Like a guild within a guild? Or what?" Eric felt like he was going crazy.

"To do that, we'd have to start from the beginning. Sit down." Jim grunted. "Jim, please. There is no need to be rough with our friends. They will see." Cassius tried to calm him down. "I hope so. This cannot leave the castle." It worked to a degree, Jim holstered his gun. "Right. Eric, you were not here for it. But your friends recently discovered a fact about our world. We had discovered it long before that.. There are two worlds; two timelines. Has anyone ever heard of many-worlds multiverse interpretation?" He asked around. "You're talking about the idea that there is a new universe for each possibility; like rolling a dice and getting six different worlds?" Dom had apparently read about it. "Yes, and it is more than a theory. Right now we have observed at least one alternate universe. Between ten and twenty years ago, there was an event that caused a distortion. If you see time like a river, then that would be when the water split into two paths. Somehow a change happened in one world but not the other. And now there's two parallel realities."

"So what I thought was the future, was just a different version of the present. My present." Uno was finally beginning to understand. "Indeed. Very different. This worlds technology and society developed in a completely alternate direction than ours. Over there they have things you couldn't even come up with. It was only natural that they discovered our timeline first, and they discovered a way to cross over." Cassius tapped the side of his head. "Synchronization; that is what we call the process of linking one mind with another. It cannot just be any two minds, they have to share the same wavelength; the same person." Cassius smiled. "...Two?" It began to dawn on Emily. "Exactly. The Aaron that grew up with you and the Aaron that grew up in the other world, we're in tune. We're Cassius." He extended a hand to his duelist companions. "As are they. Our counterparts found us and told us everything about the time divergence. Once I joined the guild, my counterpart found me as well."

"Counterparts? Are all of you.. like this?" It was bizarre, inconceivable. This was not Aaron anymore. "No. Not all of them." Cassius said. "But, werent you all supposed to be equals?! When where you going to tell them, or me?" That was the last straw for her. She got up and started ranting. "Emily, you have to realize that those who were born after the timeline split may not have been born in both timelines. Especially not in recent years, were the changes have piled up drastically. Then there are people who do have counterparts like Akai or Boris, but havent been synchronized. I would have told them and you this eventually. But because you said you were leaving, I had to take actions. Synchronization is not just a tool for us to go from one world to the other, it is how we'll save ourselves!"

"Save ourselves from time?" Uno chipped in abruptly. "Huh, another perfect guess. Are you sure you forgot everything, timetraveler boy?" Jim asked wryly. "No. It's a feeling I have had ever since I got here. I felt like I had to run away from something, but the more I ran the closer I got to it. I get it now. It's not the past, it's the future. We do not have much of it anymore, do we?" The prophecy sisters had warned him twice now. "Yes. When people first learned of the the mirror universe, they assumed it to be just a separate dimension. But when they matched histories they learned that they were once the same. Yet for some reason both worlds are draining each other. The space around is losing energy. The brightest minds in either world could not resolve this dilemma, they could only predict the outcome. If nothing is done about it, one reality will collapse in itself within the next four years."

"Four..years?" Eric felt his heart sink. He had only four years of life left? Everyone did? "No way. You're kidding me.." He wanted to forget what he heard. "It doesn't have to be the end, Eric! Emily, Alice, even you cardmaker. I can save you all. Synchronization is the answer! Even if our bodies die in this world, our minds will live on in our bodies from the other world!" Cassius was getting excited, while the others just looked at him with confused despondence. "You want us all to become like you? How do you even know if you are capable of that feat?" Dom inquired. Hearing this, Cassius moved towards the machine in the back of the room. "With this, our one link to the other world. This machine has been scanning you since you came in here, in order to find your counterparts. Of course Uno wont need it, he is a native. I still can't believe how wonderful your pendulum is. Until you came along, Uno, I had no idea timetravelel was possible. But since you only showed up this summer, we can at least conclude that you were not responsible for the timeline split. Maybe that was one of the other pendulum users, or this Tempus that they seek."

"..Yeah, I can physically go to the other world. Why can't we all do that? Maybe I can find a way?" Now that Uno had listened to the whole story, he had mixed feelings. And all of those feelings were varying shades of apprehension. "Don't you think that was the first thing we tried?" Jim scoffed. "Counterparts cannot physically interact. The same molecules may not occupy the same space or something like that. If we did, we could cause a reaction large enough to destroy a cityblock. We had disastrous crossover attempts in the past. It would only be safe for those who do not have a double in the other world. Which is why the XYZ-guild only lets so many people under the age of seventeen in their elite ranks. We don't know how or when they identified the danger of the other world, but Adamant and Roma's solution seems to be one of invasion. They probably intend to take over with whatever weapons they could have you make for them, Dom. You and UNO, you are one of the few marvels that the other world does not possess. Really, when you consider the options. Ours is far more humane. They would just slaughter whatever puts their existence at risk. But we are not the _enemy_."

"The scan is done, Cassius. Eric and Emily are compatible." One of the other duelists said as she checked the machine. "Wonderful. Do you hear that, Emily? It is going to be alright!" Cassius announced with triumphant glee. "I just.." Emily sank back to the floor. "Cannot imagine..." It was so much to bear, an entire universe. He had kept it from her all this time. "Cassius, what about the others? Not everyone will make it." Dom pointed out the obvious flaw in this plan, not every human would have a mirror self. And there was no way to tell which timeline would ultimately be the safe one. "We save who we can save, cardmaker. The other guilds made their choice." Jim stated coldly. "Well then I am afraid we cannot agree with this plan." Dom folded his arms. "I am afraid you have no say in the matter. This is going to happen, with or without you. Also.." Jim approached the Master. "It is time you take that thing off. We can't find your counterpart without a face. And do it yourself. I saw what happened the last time."

"You have a way with words, Jim. Very well!" Dom placed his hands on his mask.

And then the doors all opened and the lights all switched off. "Ah just in time, Silver." Dom took advantage of the momentary confusion to jump up and push Cassius to the ground. "Oh Cassius. The answer is still no!" He made a beeline for the door. "Damn it. His disciples must have short circuited the entire level!" One duelist cursed. He could barely see a thing until the emergency lights kicked in. "Emily, come on!" This was not a chance Uno wanted to miss. He took the still dazed Emily by the arm and ran towards the exit. Eric was right behind him. "Stop right there!" Jim pulled out his gun. "No! No shooting!" Cassius stopped him before he could point the weapon anywhere. "We cannot let them out of this building, they know too much now." Another duelist yelled. "I'm aware of that! We'll have Vesper catch them. Nobody will get hurt that way! That will just leave Uno and maybe Dom to worry about." Cassius' eyes pierced Jims. Even he got ratted. "Fine." Jim put the weapon away and grabbed a dueldisk from one of the other duelists. "Leave them to me."

...

"Almost there, guys.. " Uno was halfway down the long hallway, when circumstances forced him to stop. "Guys?" His friends were strangely quiet and slow. "Oh no." They were not moving at all in fact. "Them too?" Emily, Eric and Dom were all paralyzed, their bodies had come to a stop. "How..what.." No matter what Uno tried, he could not budge them. "Why not me too?" Uno was still as free as a bird. Until a certain someone showed up. "Found you." Jim appeared, with his dueldisk. "Why are you running Uno? There's no point. And didn't you want to find out more about your past?" Jim sneered. "Tch." Uno instinctively reached for his wrist. "We took care of that, remember?" But Uno's arm was bare. "Don't fight. Just come with me, or else.." Jim was not giving him much of a choice. And Uno could not just run and leave the others.

"Uno, catch!" And then came salvation, in the form of a young blonde girl. "Her?" Alice showed up with a handful of dueldisks in her arms. "Alice? You're.." Uno got one of those tossed to him. "Tsk. Vesper forgot about the other sister." Jim muttered to himself. "I woke up in my bed and I couldn't find anyone. You all left your cards, and that really made me worried. Then all the doors opened and I heard the noise from below. I don't know what is going on, but I dont like it." She sounded better than last time. A nap was all she needed to recover apparently? He did not want to question it right now. "Well, alright. Thank you Alice!" Uno checked his disk, his cards were all there. "Okay, Jim. Let's tango!"

(To be Continued in Annex 077: Voices without Voices)


	77. Voices without Voices

**Annex 077: Voices without Voices**

The main corridor was Jims path, the other members of The Circle planned to scour the rest of the underground level. Cassius knew Emily and the others couldn't have gone far. And the sooner he found them, the sooner he could salvage this situation. "Look out!" Unfortunately, there were more obstacles to overcome. "Oof!" One duelist was taken out by a quick strike to the back of his head. "You!" Adamant was the man behind the ambush. "He got out of his cell? Damn it, the fallout opened his door too!" The other duelists readied their dueldisks while Adamant picked up the one from his knocked out victim. "So.. we meet again." He stared them all down. "Surely you're not planning to take us on without your deck?" One duelist shouted. "A duelist that can only use one deck is not a duelist at all." Adamant grimaced as he activated his disk. The inner circle did the same. "Not now.. not now." Cassius was the only one to not engage him. "You take care of him! I have to find Emily!" He raced away, leaving the three to duel the escaped XYZ-duelist. "Heh, so things are falling down.. Synchro guild."

...

When Alice woke up, she felt disoriented and tired. There was no more pain, and no memory of what happened in the last few hours. She was alone in the room, with a glass of water.. and three sets of dueldisks on the floor. That was when she knew that something was wrong. Usually she was the one to forget her dueling equipment, not the others. Uno especially would never willingly abandon his cards. So she went downstairs and found the trouble Uno had run into, and more. "Emily?" Her sister was as stiff as a board, her friends had all become statues apparently. "..what happened to everyone? Did he do that?" The onle apparent culprit was Doms bodyguard that Uno dragged into a duel. None of this made sense, maybe she was still dreaming.

Jims LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"Someone did. It happened before. It must have something to do with the other timeline, since it doesn't seem to work on me." Uno drew his cards. Jim took the first turn. "Heh. Your friends are frozen because their minds are being pulled away from their universe. Because the synchronization process was never completed, they get stuck halfway. It is a painless way to keep someone at bay. But you need a different treatment. This isn't your universe, Timetraveler-boy." Jim had the first turn. He set a monster, placed a trap and activated a continuous spell. "Graydle Impact?" That was a brand new spell. "Courtesy of UNO's new printer. Thanks to all of you, the synchro guild will become the ruling guild!" Jim ended his turn. "During the endphase, Graydle Impact places a Graydle card from my deck in my hand!" The bodyguard added a Graydle Slime card to his hand.

"Uno, what does Synchronizing mean?" Alice had not been introduced to that term yet. "Eh. Basically this guy is from the other world, possessing a body from this world. That is what the synchro guild wants to do, have our minds possess each others bodies." Uno drew his sixth card. "That sounds crowded." Alice shuddered. "I amn ot fond of the idea either. Jim, if I win. You will let them go. You don't get to decide their fate." Uno activated two cards; a scale 6 and a scale 2 pendulum monster. "I set the scales, Performapal Guitartle and Camelump!" The effect of Guitartle activated once a Performapal was activated in the other pendulum zone; allowing Uno to draw one card. "Pendulum summon!" Uno summoned two monsters from his hand, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer(4/1500/800) and Performapal Salutiger(4/1700/500). "The spell effect of Performapal Camelump allows my monsters to inflict piercing damage, while weakening your monsters defense by 800 points! So go, Salutiger. Let's crush that monster he set!" The camel sat out a bubble that popped against the face-down monster, a golden eagle(3/1500/500) to lower its defenses. The Tiger soldier then rushed forward and punished the Eagle(1500/0).

Jim: 6300

"You set off Graydle Eagle!" Jim chuckled as the eagle turned to golden slime. "Ew, look out!" Alice cringed as the slime sloshed past Salutiger and entangled Pendulum Sorcerer. "When a Graydle beast dies in battle, it can equip itself to one monster on the field and give control of it to me!" Sorcerers body turned pale and its eyes white. The infected Performapal abandoned Uno and joined Jims side. "Disgusting, and appropriate." At least Uno gained something out of this too. Since Salutiger had destroyed one monster on the field, he could claim a pendulum Performapal (Trump Witch) from his deck. "One mind takes the other. I am guessing you are like Cassius; two people for the prize of one?" Uno placed a spell card down and ended his turn. "Hah. That would defeat the use of a spy, wouldn't it? No, _we_ are halfway synchronized; from my end but not from his. Other Jim does not know about me, which makes his alibi is perfect. Nobody can catch transmissions if they are done on a completely different plane of existence! When the time is right, he and all other spies will be told, not before."

"But this Jim is a properly trained duelist. My turn! I summon Graydle Alligator!" Jims next alien-esque beast was a grey and green alligator(3/500/1500). "If I do not use the second effect of Graydle Impact, I can activate the first! It destroys one my Graydle cards together with one of your cards!" The spell created a holographic flying saucer and smashed it into the ground. The impact splattered Graydle Alligator all over the field, while Uno's facedown Illusion Ballloon spell card was burned by the fire. "Each Graydle also can possess monsters if they die by certain card effects!" For the Alligators effect, it had to be destroyed by a spell card. "Not again." Alice and Uno both knew what was coming. The liquid remains of Graydle Cobra approached Salutiger and infected his body. The tiger warrior joined Pendulum Sorcerer. "Direct attack!" Both enslaved Performapals struck their former master. "Blast.."

Uno's LP: 4800

"Oh, don't worry. I will give them back to you. Sorta." Jim placed a new monster on his field, a grey-head alien(5/0/2000). "Graydle Slime; This tuner monster can destroy two Graydle cards I control to special summon itself from my hand or graveyard." The Alien absorbed the Graydles that were equipped to the Performapals. "But the hosts of Graydles, will die if the Graydles are removed." The bodies of Salutiger and Pendulum Sorcerer decomposed. One went to the graveyard, the other to the extra deck. "Meanwhyile Graydle Slime can special summon one Graydle from the graveyard." The absorbed slime was released and remolded into Graydle Alligator. "Now.. watch this. Synchro summon!" Jim tuned the Slime with the level 3 reptile, creating one solid silver blob. "Graydle Dragon!" Golden wings, a pink tail and a green alligator head popped out of the grey mass. The rest shaped itself into a dragonic torso and claws. He created a chimeric dragon(8/3000/2000). "Graydle Dragon destroys one card for each of its synchro materials. So do the math!" The dragon fired streams of gold and silver slime towards Uno's pendulum zones. Guitartle and Camelump were drowned by the effect, destroyed and pushed into the extra deck. "Now you have nothing, timtraveler-boy!" Jim placed two more trap cards down and ended his turn.

"Au Contraire! You gave me everything, Jim." Uno smiled and activated a spell. "Pendulum Call!" It discarded a card from Uno's hand (Performapal Trump Witch) to grab two pendulum Magicians from the deck. "Set the scales, Wisdom-Eye Magician and DragonPit Magician!" He placed the scale 4 and scale 8 in their respective pendulum zones. "WisdomEye, switch out for a new Magician!" The insightful mage activated its effect to destroy itself. "Say hello to Oafdragon Magician!" Another pendulum Magician took over WisdomEye's zone; an adult mage with sharp green hair and a green jacket. "Uh, hello? Is he gonna help?" Alice wondered. "Heh. And how.. Oafdragon can search and retrieve a Pendulum Magician or Odd-Eyes card, if the other pendulum zone also has a Magician in it." As that requirement was met, Uno could add another new pendulum Magician to his hand; Nobledragon Magician. "And DragonPit Magician can destroy one spell or trap card by discarding a Pendulum monster from my hand!" Uno discarded Nobledragon to shatter Graydle Impact

"And now.. Pendulum summon round two! Come on out fellas!" Oafdragon was a scale 2 pendulum card, Dragonpit was scale 8. Together they allowed Uno to summon every monster in his extra deck; Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer, Guitartle(3/300/400), Camelump(4/800/1000) and Wisdom-Eye Magician(5/1500/1000). "Jim. You said that I shouldn't run away from what you could tell me. So why don't you? You know more about our world than me.. you may even know something useful!" Uno taunted his opponent as he activated the effect of Pendulum Sorcerer. The magician destroyed one other card, WisdomEye. Then it added yet another Performapal monster to Uno's hand. The card he claimed and immediately normal summoned was Performapal Bit Bite Turtle(3/800/1200). "Because winning might not be in your cards. You see, that printer made me a lot of stuff too!" Uno activated another spell, a field spell. "Performapal Dramatic Theater!" A large stage rose up beneath his Performapals and a circus tent came down around the duelists.

"!?" The attackpoints of all Uno's monsters were shooting up. "Dramatic Theater adds 200 attackpoints to _my_ monsters, for each different monstertype I control." The spellcaster Pendulum Sorcerer(2300/800), the Beast Camelump(1600/1000), the Aqua Guitartle(3/1100/400) and the Reptile Bit Bite Turtle(1600/1200); their four types were worth 800 attackpoints. "And that is not all. Watch and be amazed!" Uno pulled another card from his deck. "When I control four different types of Performapals, Dramatic Theater can special summon one Odd-Eyes monster from my hand, deck or graveyard!" The four performers cheered jubilantly. "I summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The fifth player joined the stage, the dragon Odd-Eyes(7/3300/2000). Because of its arrival, another 200 attackpoints were given to all of Uno's monsters. "Time for the climactic showdown! Battle!" Odd-Eyes(3500/2000) pulled its head back and gathered its flames. With one fiery blast from its mouth it blew up Graydle Dragon and delivered double the battle damage.

Jims LP: 5300

"I have said more than enough! If you want answers, come and get them!" Jim shouted as he placed a new card on his field. "When Graydle Dragon dies, one Graydle monster will be summoned from the graveyard!" Graydle Eagle(3/1500/500) was revived in defense mode. "That's okay! Everyone gets their time to shine!" Performapal Pendulum Camelump attacked and destroyed the golden bird with bubble blasts. "Heh, thank you." The residual pink slime then equipped itself to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(2500/2000) and gave control of the dragon to Jim. "You're welcome, Jim!" Uno laughed and attacked with Bit Bite Turtle. It rammed the performapal into Odd-Eyes. This time Uno took doubled battle damage. "But Odd-Eyes is better off with me!" The biting turtle's effect triggered upon destruction, inflicting the destruction upon the Pendulum Dragon too. Both monsters were sent to the extra deck. Two performers remained in the theater. "Now, Pendulum Sorcerer, Guitartle! Direct attack!"

Uno's LP: 3000

"Alright, you had your fun. I activate Graydle Parasite!" Jim revealed a continuous trap card. "Once a turn, when I am attacked while I control no monsters, Graydle Parasite will special summon a Graydle from my deck in attack position!" A grey blob crept out from Pendulum Sorcerers shadow, shapeshifting into a pink and grey serpent, a Graydle Cobra(3/1000/1000). "Meh, Tough crowd." Uno stopped the battle phase. If his sorcerer killed the snake, it would control one of his monsters and he did not think 600 points of battle damage were worth that. "That can't be good.." Alice whimpered. "Don't worry about a thing, Alice. It's still my show!" Uno placed a trap card down and ended his turn. "Your show. Pfeh, without your pendulum, you wouldn't even matter. I can tell you what I know about _you_ , Uno. Nothing." Jim said with a vile sneer as his drawphase began. "What did you say?"

"Exactly that. You're not even a blip on the radar, we never heard of any duelist with cards like yours. I bet you're just a lowborn commoner. Now let's end these jokes, yourself included! If Graydle Cobra is destroyed by a trap card effect, he can control one monster on the field!" And the lucky trap was already on the field. "Graydle Split!" He flipped a normal trap, which attached itself to the Cobra(1500/1000). "Graydle Split is equipped to one monster and that monster gains 500 attackpoints. But more importantly, it can destroy one monster and split it into two new Graydles!" Jim had set up the perfect strategy; the destroyed Cobra split itself into two Graydle Eagles(3/1500/500) while its remains possessed Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer(4/1500/1200). "I will destroy the two Eagles to revive Graydle Slime!" The last step would bring back his tuner while the Eagles would take control of the remaining Performapals. Uno would have nothing, Jim would have everything. "It is over!"

"Oooh. You shouldn't have said that, Jimmy. The higher the pride, the harder you fall." Uno activated his trap as Graydle Slime targeted the two Eagles. "Double Magical Arm Bind! By sacrificing two of my monsters I can take control of your two monsters until your next turn!" Springloaded clamps appeared in the spell/trap zone. They shot outwards, shattering Performapal Camelump and Guitartle along the way. The clamps than grabbed both Graydle Eagles. Since they were now under Uno's control, Graydle Slime could not destroy them. Plus they(1700/500) gained a powerboost from the Dramatic Theater. "You son of a.." Jim could not activate the effect of Graydle Slime again this turn, not even if he failed to resolve it. "Ha, two can play this game. But don't feel too bad, Jim. I change my tricks all the time, you couldn't have seen this coming. That's also why I cant agree with your plan. The future is unpredictable, there could be tons of ways to solve the problem. To say that your answer is the only right one, and that everyone else can just die.. Does that sound right to you?!"

"Ha. You believe you can fix everything? You cannot even help your friends here! You might defeat me, but that will not free them!" Jims entire strategy had been smashed, so all he could do now.. was laugh. "What? But you said.. you said you would!" Alice cried out. "That is what he said. I never made that promise. Cassius will never let you go. The minute you heard of our plan, you became part of it." He switched Pendulum Sorcerer to defense mode and ended his turn. "No... Uno, what do we do?" Alice tried to shake Emily out of her trance, to no avail. They did not unfreeze. "...You." Uno clenched his hand. "What are you going to do, huh!?" Jim had nothing to fear. He still had Graydle Parasite to protect him. "...Synchronization. Everything comes back to synchro monsters." Maybe it was all tied together, maybe that was the key. "Alice. Remember how I had to master XYZ-summoning with Odd-Eyes as the material before I could do it without. Let's master synchro summoning now."

"Uno?" Alice blinked. "What are you babbling about?" Jim snorted. "You will see.. Jim. Pendulum summon!" He used Oafdragon and Dragon Pit Magician to pendulum summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/3100/2000) and Performapal Camelump(4/1400/2000) from the extra deck. Along with the Eagles(2100/500), they gained 600 attackpoints from the Dramatic Theater. "By taking away three stars from Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, I can special summon Nobledragon Magician from the graveyard! Here is my own couple of counterparts, Jim!" In the last monster slot appeared the younger partner of Oafdragon Magician, the purple-haired fire magician(3/1500/1400) in white robes. "Wait a second. That is a tuner monster!" Jim growled. "Good eye!" Uno took the tuner and the level-stripped Odd-Eyes(4/3300/2000). "I will use my dragon and my magician to create a level 7 synchro monster!" Light and flame came together. "Synchro summon: Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" Odd-Eyes crashed into the theater like a meteor, revealing its sleek red body(7/3100/2000).

"You had a synchro monster?" Both Jim and Alice were blown away. "Courtesy.. of UNO." Camelump was the first to attack, he had the task of destroying the infected Pendulum Sorcerer. The one to direct attack first was Graydle Eagle. "Heh. Thank you again, boy!" So Jim reactivated Graydle Parasite to special summon a Graydle Cobra(3/1000/1000) from his deck. The Eagle destroyed that instead. "For giving me your synchro.." Jim eagerly sent the slimy remains after Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon. "..monster?" That plan never became reality. Odd-Eyes burned the monster down before it could equip itself to anything. "Looks like you should have payed attention, Jimmy! None of your monsters can activate their effects during the battle phase, while Meteorburst is on set!" Nothing would stop him now. Graydle Parasite could not summon again this turn. "Direct attack!" The second Graydle Eagle slammed into his former master. "Ungh. This is unreal.." He felt the blow, the monsters had become real.

Jims LP: 2200

"Jim. Tell Cassius that we're not his subjects." Uno spoke, while the glow in his pendulum crystal returned once more. "If he can't understand that, then there can be no future between us. And as for you, you will never endanger my friends again!" Uno ordered his last attack. Meteorburst Dragon created a fireball in the sky and dropped it down from the top of the theater. "Gah!" Both the meteor blast and the pendulum unleashed a searing light that flooded the halls from one side to the other.

Jims LP: 0

"There!" Evan Cassius noticed. He followed the fading light and found Jim moments later. "Jim. What happened? Did you find them?" He was the only one here now. "Ngh. That bastard timetraveler of yours... he defeated me. I can't stay here.. much longer now." The bodyguard had been blasted against the wall. The pain made him lose control of his body. "Defeated? How?! Uno had no dueldisk or cards with him! And the others, Vesper should have stopped them." Cassius thought they had covered every possibility. "It was her sister. She came down and gave Uno all that stuff. I don't know how he got the others out of Vespers hold, I couldn't see with all that light. You should ask her about that, and ask her why she didn't paralyze Alice while you're at it." Jim had no answers. Either Uno had teleported everyone out, or he somehow undid the paralysis. "What? But she.." Cassius lurched backwards. "She what?" Jim looked up at him. "Vesper wouldn't have missed her.. Alice shouldn't have been able to walk around at all."

(To be Continued in Annex 078: The Immovable Object)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Camelump  
Oafdragon Magician  
Nobledragon Magician

-  
Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon

-  
Performapal Dramatic Theater

-  
Double Magical Arm Bind

 **Cards used by Jim  
** Graydle Eagle  
Graydle Cobra  
Graydle Slime  
Graydle Alligator

-  
Graydle Dragon

-  
Graydle Impact

-  
Graydle Parasite  
Graydle Split


	78. The Immovable Object

**Annex 078: The Immovable Object**

"Gah!?" One minute Dom, Eric and Emily were running with pounding hearts. The next they were immobile and utterly calm. All momentum was undone. "Alice?" Then there were faces present who had not been here a second ago and a bright light that covered everything. "Sis, you're better!" Emily could feel her sister hugging her. "Uh..what?" It was like waking from a dream, while standing. "...You were all stuck! But Uno saved you!" Alice pointed to the source of the light, Uno and his pendulum. "I did.." Uno was as amazed as the rest of them. _"Did the pendulum pull their minds back to this world? Was it because I summoned a synchro monster?"_ It looked like he had not even scratched the surface of what this crystal could do. "Ehhr, where did he come from?" Eric was more concerned with the bodyguard who lied there in the corner. "I can explain everything later. First, let's get out of here!" Jim wouldn't stay unconscious for long. They had to find a safe space. "Good idea!" Dom said as he crouched down to remove Jims gun. Just to be safe. "I'll Lead the way!"

So while Cassius stumbled upon Jim, the others were already far ahead. "Alice? How are you?" Along the way Emily asked her sister about her emotional state, which appeared to be normal from the outside. "I am fine, sis. Why are you asking?" She was all smiles now, when she certainly had not been like that two hours ago. "But.. Never mind." She had seen Alice forget things that upset her after a long sleep, but never this quickly. And in this situation, that could snap at any moment, so she did not press the issue.

"Why are we going like this? Are you lost or something?" Eric meanwhile noticed Dom seemed to be taking every path but the straight one. "We're following directions, Stonewell. Since the blackout disabled all their cameras, the 'inner circle' has to track us on foot. Silver is using the private line to keep me up to date on where every dueldisk is, where they all are. This is the best path to the exit." Dom said tapping his mask. "Wait. If we can do that? Can't they do that too?" Alice was beginning to worry about the devices she was carrying around, specifically the synchro guild disks. "Good point!" Dom suddenly stopped. "What now?" Eric growled. They were going up the stairs, this was no time to slow down. "This area is free, for about 5 minutes. Silver says there's a lot more activity upstairs. We can't slip by, with or without those things." He weighed his options. "Can't we talk to them?" Emily offered. Even if this Circle group was after them, they did not represent the whole synchro guild. They could approach duelists like Akai. "Maybe not the best idea. The whole castle is put on high alert. Adamant broke out of his cell, and they are blaming Dreamworld for it. Which, fair enough. But then they add that Uno and Eric were accomplices."

"A classic framing ploy." Uno groaned. "So they are looking for you guys, but not me and Emily?" Alice was surprised to not hear her name. "I guess Aaron can't stretch his story far enough to make us look like the bad guys. Either that or he is still.." Emily flinched. "Dom. Where do you need to be?" A plan was forming in her head. "Out of the castle, preferably near my station. All our long-distance signals are being jammed here. Are you planning to use yourself as a distraction?" That was what it sounded like to him. "What? Emily, No!" Alice cried out. "Someone has to. I can't see Aaron doing anything to me, not if I go up there." Despite everything, he was still half the guy she grew up with. "I'm not running from him; it doesn't solve anything. Either someone talks some sense into him, or beats it into him. I am the perfect duelist for both jobs."

"I am not up there, Emily.." Emily's words were tested sooner than anticipated. "Ack, Cassius at ten a clock!" Eric saw the synchro duelist pop up beneath them. "You're a fast fella." Dom remarked. Cassius caught up to them in the time it took his disciple to realize there was an incoming dueldisk. "...Alice." The synchro-duelist stared at the younger sister. "What is your real full name?" He asked with a harsh tone. "Wh-wh-what?" Alice stuttered. "Hey! What the hell are you about?" Emily shouted as she placed herself in front of Alice. "Emily. This is important." Aaron began to say. "Yeah? You can send your questions to me then!" Emily cut him off. "You can't. Alice is not what you think she is." Cassius took another step towards them. "What do _you_ think she is?!" Emily asked even louder. "I do not know that either, that is what I want to find out."

"You don't even know? Well I know one thing! She's family, no matter how you slice it." So Emily took a dueldisk from Alice's hands and activated it. "Emily.." Her sisters eyes welled up. "I do not want to fight you." Cassius' hand hovered over his dueldisk. "Is that you talking, or the other you? Either way, tough break, I am challenging all of you." Emily glanced at Dom. "Get the others out, I will buy you time." As a response, Dom placed his hand on her shoulder. "You don't need to say that twice. They will be safe with me." He was the first to continue the climb up the stairs. "Kick his ass, Emily!" Eric gave her his support before he followed the cardmaker. "You're gonna win right?" Alice hesitated. "..I am sure of it. C'mon Alice." It took Uno to get movement out of her. "Okay.. But I wont say goodbye!" Alice tore herself away from the scene. Now it was just the three. "Uno.. don't tell Alice about the world ending. Not yet." Emily had one last request for him. "You got it." Uno nodded and at last, he was gone too. "Now then, Aaron. Let's have your story."

Cassius' LP: 8000 Emily's LP: 8000

"Emily, Alice was immune to our synchronizer. Tat shouldn't be possible." Cassius tried to get her to listen again. "Your fancy machine? For all I know it can make icecream out of mud, that tells me nothing. And so what? Uno broke us out of it too! No, we are not talking about her anymore, Aaron." It was as useful as talking to a brick wall. ".. You are right." He finally started drawing his cards. "I should have known. You respond better to force.." His turn was first. Because he controlled no monsters, he could special summon Speedroid Terrortop(3/1200/600) from his hand. "I add Speedroid Tri-Eyed Dice." With the search effect of Terrortop he claimed the three-sided tuner dice(3/300/1500) and normal summoned it. "And now I synchro summon Hi-Speedroid Kendama!" The dice tuned itself with the top toy to summon the Kendama machine-jet(6/2200/1600) in defense mode. "Fire!" Cassius banished a machine from his graveyard, Terrortop, to activate Kendama's burning effect. The Hispeedroid fired a laser from its forward tip, inflicting 500 points of damage upon contact with the opponent.

Emily's LP: 7500

"Just like the last time huh? When I got into all of this mess." This was how Cassius started out their previous duel. "It had to happen this way, Emily. You would never have agreed to join us." Cassius placed a spell card face-down and ended the turn. "That's for damn sure. But what's done is done!" Emily drew a card. "At least I got a little smarter since then, and stronger!" She normal summoned Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer(4/1200/0). Next, as she had spell or trap cards in her graveyard, she could special summon the tuner monster, Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter(2/300/600), from her hand. "I'm synchro summoning Shutendoji." The trumper player and the piercing arrow started the synchronizing process to summon Emily's level 6 synchro monster; the Superheavy Samurai Ogre Shutendoji(6/500/2500), in defense mode. "Shutendoji, destroy his spells or trap." The Ogre's effect destroyed Cassius' set Limiter Removal.

"That card? If you are trying to make me feel nostalgic. It aint working." Emily had more effects to use and activate. As Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer had been sent to the graveyard, she could add a new Superheavy Samurai monster from her deck to her hand. In this case she claimed a second Trumpeter. "Superheavy Double Horns, I equip it to Shutendoji!" After that she gave her synchro monster new horned shoulder armor. "Now it can attack twice every turn, get ready Aaron!" Shutendoji materialized a second spiked club in his left hand. With his two clubs he struck from its defensive position. "Then I will negate one of those attacks, by banishing Tri-Eyed Dice from my graveyard, Emily!" The dice tuner launched itself up into the air to smack one club out of Shutendoji's hand. "One attack then!" The second attack went through and smashed Hispeedroid Kendama into an unrecognizable scrapheap.

"I know you have grown. You surpassed my expectations. But.. last time we dueled, I _wanted_ you to join. Limits were set." Cassius' turn came for the second time. "This time, I am going to give a 100 %, Emily." Cassius normal summoned a speedroid Emily had not seen before; a colorful cowboy-kid toy(3/1000/200). "Speedroid Ohajikid. Because I normal summoned him, I can take 1 Tuner monster in either graveyard and summon it." The kid shot a marble blast into the graveyard below. "Ah-hey!" She saw her own Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter switch sides to the enemy. "Immediately afterwards I must synchro summon a wind-type synchro monster." The resummoned level 2 tuner and the Ohajikid speedroid leaped into circles of synchronized energy. "That monster will be Hi-Speedroid Chanbara!" The red/gold chariot(5/2000/1000) raced out of the extra deck. It rose high above the duelists, hanging its blade over Emily's monster.

"Now!" Cassius activated a spell card. "Hi-Speed Re-level! Until the end of this turn, my synchro monsters level will change into that of a Speedroid I banish from the graveyard. And its attackpoints will go up by 500 times for each star on that level!" Speedroid Kendama was removed from the graveyard. Meaning Chanbara now only gained one level star, but It(6/5000/1000) also gained six times 500 attackpoints. "Crap." Emily was no stranger to this Hispeedroid. This was very bad news. "Chanbara permanently gains 200 attackpoints when it attacks!" The Hispeedroid(5200/1000) shot down, impaling the defending Ogre Shutendoji with its body. "And it can attack twice in each battlephase!" The synchro machine(5400/1000) flew back up, just so that it could come crashing back down into Emily herself. "Tch. I guess you really were holding back before." A major chunk of her lifepoints were shaved away. "Not going for real damage?" However the monsters were not real, so the only pain she felt was the one in her mind. "We are not the other guilds, Emily. I wouldn't do that to you."

Emily's LP: 2100

"Says the man who hurt himself for some reason. I don't even know who I am talking to anymore." Emily had been trying not to think about it. That was pretty hard. "I get your concerns. I had them too at first, so did the other me. But once we were synchronized, we saw that it was the way." Cassius swore as he placed two trap cards and ended his turn. The boosts of HiSpeed Relevel left Hispeedroid Chanbara(5/2400/1000). "Then you're Aaron Aaron? When does the other guy show up?" Emily still had a boatload of questions. "He is here, he can see what I can see if he closes his eyes. And we have each others memories. But right now I control this body, and he controls his. You have to feel what it is like, Emily.." He gushed endlessly while Emily drew her card. "I'll pass. I know me, I wouldn't want to be stuck with another me for the rest of my years."

Emily normal summoned a Superheavy Samurai Gigagloves, the living gauntlet armor(3/100/1000). After that she special summoned her second Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter(2/300/500). "Time for a different tune! I synchro summon Musashi in defense mode!" The two Samurais synchronized into a level 5 synchro samurai, the Superheavy Samurai Swordsman Musashi(5/300/2300). "When Gigagloves goes to the graveyard, I can rearrange the top five cards of my deck!" Emily scanned her deck and reordered the five Superheavy cards she found (Samurai Drums, Battleball, Torch, Thief and Flutist) "And you probably know that a synchro summoned Musashi takes back a machine frommy graveyard!" The card she chose to reclaim was Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer. "Of course, Musashi can attack with his defense.. so..." Emily equipped a Superheavy from her hand to her Swordsman; Superheavy Samurai SoulClaw. It was a claw gauntlet that added 500 attack and defense points to its wielder(800/2800). "I can keep this up all day, Aaron!" The weaponized Musashi grabbed his sword and slammed it into Chanbara's blade. The Samurai would come out on top, unless Cassius did something about it. "...Hn!" His hand moved to his left trap, yet it jerked to the right at the last second and activated a different trap. "Power Charge! Because you attacked a Roid monster, I can draw two cards!" The trap replenished his hand _. "What..was that?"_ It was an odd reaction, definitely.

Cassius' LP: 7600

Chanbara was ripped apart by the swordsman regardless. But Cassius gained something out of that as well. "When HiSpeedroid Chanbara is destroyed, I can return a banished speedroid to my hand." Cassius chose to take Speedroid Terrortop out of the banished zone. "..Well, your turn again." Emily had done what she wanted to do. "So it is." Cassius sighed. "...I summon Speedroid Double Yoyo!" Cassius placed a spike-disk yoyo toy(4/1400/1400) on the field. "Its effect allows me to special summon a level 4 or lower speedroid from my graveyard!" The Yoyo snagged Speedroid Terrortop with its thread and placed it back on the field. Since the Terrortop had been summoned again, its effect grabbed a Speedroid from the deck again. "Taketomborg!" He took the transforming robot(3/1200/600) which he could special summon to his field, now that he controlled a wind-monster. "I tribute it to special summon Red-Eyed Dice." Taketomborgs effect made it switch places with the six-sided tuner dice(1/100/100). "I didn't think I would need this." The effect of the Red-Eyed Dice altered the level of Terrortop(6/1200/600), doubling it. ".. I will use these monsters as synchro materials, to summon Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"

"You're going there?!" Emily was still half surprised when Cassius brought out Doms card; the clear white synchro dragon(7/2500/2000). "For you, I have too." Cassius revealed his second trap now; Follow Wing. "Just what I need." That was another repeat offender. As a continuous trap, Follow Wing would protect Cassius' synchro monster indefinitely. "Emily, We don't know which world is going to survive, one has to die. And it is more likely to be this one.. Emily, Fate brought us back together. We only have a future together!" Anguish was coming through in his words as he moved into the battle phase. Clear Wing Synchro Dragon fired a shot at Swordmaster Musashi. Since Follow Wing had targeted Clear Wing, the dragons attacks would destroy the opposing level 5 or higher monster, even if it had more attackpoints. The Superheavy Samurai was erased by the white light. "Direct attack!" Double Yoyo then rolled one of its spiked wheels into Emily, cutting her lifepoints down by two/thirds. "You have to understand that if you were to die, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Emily's LP: 700

"Yeah and that is exactly what you are doing already. What about the other Emily? Are you gonna ask her? Or do you just pluck them from the street?" She was done with this sob story and sympathetic looks. "It wouldn't be like that, I.." Cassius saw that too now. "I'll end my turn." He placed two trap cards down and left his field that way. "Aaron,. I know you think you are doing this for me, but I wouldn't want to live like that. I have seen a lot of crazy stuff, timetravelers even! Aaron. And I still don't believe in fate. Bad stuff and good stuff can happen to people for no reason.. People can make their own 'fate'." Emily placed a monster on her field, the mechanical mailman; Superheavy Samurai Transporter(5/1200/1800). "I am going to take mine! I use The Transporters effect!" Emily tributed the Transporter. "I summon these two cards to your field!" She placed two monsters in front of Cassius; Superheavy Samurai Drum(1/300/300) and Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei(8/1000/3500). Both in defense position. "What?" Cassius did not realize what she was up too until he was too late to stop it.

"I can draw a card for each monster I gave to you!" Thanks to Gigagloves, she knew what she was about to draw. This was her designed fate. "Battleball!" Emily normal summoned one of the drawn cards, the round-bodied tuner(2/100/800). "Since I only have Superheavies on my field, Battleball can take your monster and tune with it! Follow Wing protects your dragon, but not your Samurais!" The Ball samurai changed into rings of green light. "!" Big Benkei disappeared and its eight stars were pulled into the two rings. "Here you go, Susanowo!" And Emily finally brought out her most powerful synchro; Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo(10/2400/3800). She equipped the Warlord with her Soulpiercer. "Susanowo, attack the Drum!" The warlord attacked from defense position, destroying the drum with a single jab while Soulpiercer shot through the defense points. "See? I found a way!"

Cassius' LP: 4100

And this was the fun part; whenever Superheavy Samurai Drum was destroyed it would special summon a Superheavy from the graveyard. This effect activated regardless of who killed it and where it died. "Big Benkei!" So Emily gave life back to the second strongest samurai, Benkei(8/1000/3500) the ever-dependable. "Attack Double Yoyo!" Her monster punched the ground so hard that the stairwell seemed to tremble. The shockwaves reached the Speedroid Yoyo and snapped it in half. "Aaron, it was a coincidence that we met each other again. From the start you kept this from me.. from my friends. That was your first mistake." Emily ended her turn. She could not use her synchro Samurai's graveyard effect as long as Clearwing was on the field. "You're right.. I should have been honest with you." Cassius looked down. "I still believe that you were always meant to become part of the synchro guild. I would have come for you eventually, but.." He had to confess now, or it would be too late. "It was not a complete coincidence."

Cassius' LP: 2000

"What!?" For a brief moment, Emily thought she had heard him wrong. "What do you mean?" Then came the anger. "That I saw you and your sister again was no accident. I knew what was happening with you and Uno. The Circle knew..."

(To be Continued in Annex 079: The Unstoppable Force)

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Gigagloves  
Superheavy Samurai Soulclaw

-  
Superheavy Samurai Swordmaster Musashi

 **New Cards used by Cassius  
** Speedroid Ohajikid  
Speedroid Double Yoyo

-  
Hi-Speed Re-level

-  
Power Charge


	79. The Unstoppable Force

**Annex 079: The Unstoppable Force**

Uno and the gang hit a bit of a snag as they reached the top floor. "Well if anyone was asleep already, they definitely arent now." The synchro guild was buzzing around like flies, covering every hallway and exit. They took the alarm seriously. "We can't duel them all, we only have two dueldisks left." Uno had to discard his, since he did not trust anything Cassius had given him. "Maybe I can go out and talk to them? I mean they aren't looking for me." Alice had her suggestion. Uno shook his head. "It would be our word against Cassius'. I don't like those odds. What we need is another diversion... Dom, can you try that hologram trick again?" Uno heard how it fooled Adamants forces before. "Not without the proper tools. We have to get out of range of whatever it is that paralyzed us before. I am assuming Uno's pendulum made us immune for now. But seeing as my disciples haven't been affected, our station must be safe anyway." If they could get there, they could form a new plan. "Hmm... I have a plan too!" Eric turned his dueldisk on. "To play the bad guy." He ran out into the open. "Eric!" Alice shouted.

"It's him!" A handful duelists spotted him immediately. "Yeah, what about it?" Eric taunted them and rushed down the halls. The synchro guildsmen pursued. "Well, I have to give him credit. It worked." Dom stated with marginal pride. "Let's go. Silver is waiting for us.."

...

Cassius' LP: 2000 Emily's LP: 700

"You.. you arranged it?" Emily had to digest a lot of new information this day. And still Cassius' most recent revelation made the rest look small in comparison. "Was that why you came to see Uno's duel at the sporthall? So you and your pals could recruit him?" All this time, it had been about him. "The Circle heard about the 'thief' from their man inside Dreamworld. They estimated he would travel through our territory, so they planned an intercept. Once I found out that you were with him, I took the task. They wanted Uno, but I wanted you.. Emily." Cassius drew his card and quickly moved to his battle phase. Clear Wing Synchro Dragon(7/2500/2000) rose into the air to hover at the same level as Emily's Superheavy Samurai Susanowo(10/2400/3800). "Attack!" Clear Wing had the power of Follow Wing targeting it. The continuous trap would make it so that Cassius' synchro monster would destroy Emily's highlevel monster before the actual battle could take place.

"I wasn't done yet, Aaron!" So Emily activated a card from her hand. "Superheavy Samurai Blowtorch! I can discard this card when I have no spells or traps in my graveyard, and I can turn another Superheavy into an attack target!" A torch-carrying machine samurai materialized before the dragon. It spewed flames from six pipes to drive the monster away and redirect it towards Emily's other monster. Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei(8/1000/3500) was targeted. "Argh." Since Blowtorch skipped the start of the damage step and pushed straight into damage calculation, Follow Wing could not destroy Big Benkei. The synchro dragons attack failed to put a dent in the armor of the Samurai. Worse, Cassius took the deflected battle damage. "So you wanted Uno. But then other guilds found out about him. Did you tell them that too?" The gang had not yet figured out how the fusion guild learned about Uno and his pendulum monsters. Dreamworld had always denied involvement. " _We_ did.. We believed Uno would only accept our guild once he had seen what the Fusion guild was like."

Cassius' LP: 1000

"Unbelievable." Emily shook her head. "And what about your accident? Dom said that you did it on purpose? Did anyone attack you at all?" Everything else had been a lie, so why not that as well? "No. I had to make it look like it was.. to keep the other guilds of our tracks. Ngh.. They were starting to suspect us, I had to make it look like we were the victims and that one of them was the culprit. Our.. guild had no personal stake in the tournament anyway, we do not seek Doms secrets." Cassius seemed to be struggling to keep talking. "..And then you said the Fusion Guild did it. Was that just to get me riled up? To make me feel sad for you? For gods sake, I took it out on Eric for you!" Emily was angry, with herself and with him. "I didn't want that! I never thought Eric would join the fusion guild!" He shouted. As he placed another trap card down he ended his turn. "Yeah that was Dreamworld's fault. But you know what? At least Eric got a choice!" Emily pulled the top card from her deck. "It doesn't matter now, Emily. I studied your deck, it can't break this lock." The combo of Clear Wing and Follow Wing was near insurmountable.

"Then I guess you don't know me at all." Emily summoned a new monster, a mechanical grey/green and copper bandit(10/1000/1000). "Superheavy Samurai Thief! I can special summon him when I have no spells or traps in my graveyard. I have to tribute him to activate his effect!" The thief vanished into the ground. Clear Wing could not stop this activation either. "He will then destroy one of your traps and.. set it on my side of the field!" The thiefs greedy hands emerged from underneath the stairs, and snatched Follow Wing. "Ah!" Cassius' continuous trap was dragged into the graveyard and then placed face-down on Emily's steps. "That's right. I had Dom make a few cards for me too. I guess I didn't tell you everything either." Clear Wing Synchro Dragon was an easy target now. "Susanowo, attack!" A single strike was all she needed to defeat both the dragon and his master.

"..Interdimensional Matter Transporter." Cassius wasn't going to grant her the attack. He activated his trap to banish Clear Wing Synchro Dragon for this one turn. "That's not gonna save you, Aaron!" Though Emily could call off her attack via the replay rule, she kept it going as a direct attack. "No, but this will." He then activated his second trap card, Stardust ReSpark. "Your special summoned monsters attack is negated, and a Stardust monster is summoned from my extra deck!" Susanowo's weapon was deflected by a collision of stars. The stars formed a being of energy, the flashing diamond of a dragon, Stardust Spark(8/2500/2000). "I summon Stardust Spark Dragon in defense mode. This monster can make one monster indestructible each turn." The dragon roared and raised a protective light bubble around its body. Big Benkei could not break through, nor could it inflict damage. "Finally, Stardust Respark allows me to draw one card." Cassius did so while Emily terminated the battle phase _. "I thought I had it.."_ For each step she made to catch up, he raced ahead by two. _"Damn it."_ She had to let the turn end. At this point the Interdimensional Transporter placed Clear Wing back in the proper dimension.

"It is time to let it go, Emily. You cannot stop this. And you will see why, soon." Cassius gained a more confident attitude, once his turn came again. "I activate Shock Surprise, banishing one speedroid to destroy one card on your side of the field." His spell banished Speedroid Taketomborg and targeted the set Follow Wing trap. "And I activate Synchro Cracker. One synchro monster on the field returns to the extra deck. All monsters whose attackpoints were inferior to this synchro monsters original power, shall die." The Synchro Dragon disappeared within an aura of pure green light. "Ah.." The light separated into two rings, one for each of Emily's Superheavies. "I activate Susanowo's effect!" Only now, with Clear Wing no longer on the field, could Emily activate the effect of her level 10 card. Susanowo targeted one of the spell cards in Cassius' graveyard and placed it down on her side of the field. Nevertheless, Warlord Susanowo and Big Benkei were destroyed by the Synchro rings. "What's gotten into you? You're acting different. Is it him, the other Aaron?"

"I am Cassius. We might disagree on some matters, at the end we always see eye to eye. The half of me that never got to meet you still has the memories and experiences that show what an amazing person you are. How many times can I say it, Emily? Synchronization is not the end of one life." He closed one fist. ".. it is the enrichment of two." He closed his other fist and pushed it forwards. Stardust Spark Dragon fired a blast of starlight towards Emily. "Grrr, I activate Gigagloves!" But a direct attack was something her dead Samurai could respond too. "I banish it to draw one card from my deck! If it is a Superheavy Samurai, your monsters attackpoints are reduced to zero!" Though Emily's deck had been reshuffled when Soulpiercer went to the graveyard along with Susanowo, and she had already added a new Samurai (Blue Brawler) to her hand, her deck was more monster than spell or trap. So she had to count her blessings. "I Draw... Superheavy Samurai Soulbang Cannon !" And she could add one more blessing. Stardust Spark Dragon(0/2000) lost all of its power. So the direct attack did nothing. "Cassius.. What about my family, my friends? How many people do you want us to leave behind?" Emily was not sure if she ever could be convinced. "It will be like this for all of us, your mother, your father, Eric, the Guild." Cassius placed one trap card down and ended his turn. "We can tell them together. They will listen. Many of their counterparts in the other timeline are already waiting for them to join. As for the rest, if they cannot be persuaded. Then their minds were never clear enough."

[Merci]

"What..what was that?" Cassius flinched. "Dom?" He could tell whose voice it was. Why he could receive it was another matter. [Down here, Cassius] Once the voice returned, both duelists could pinpoint the exact source. It was Emily's dueldisk. "Cardmaker, have you been listening?" Cassius looked above him and below him, the two were alone. [Naturally. You may have modified these dueldisks with a lot of your own features and taken out others, but in the end these darlings are still mine first and yours second.] Just like the XYZ-guild, the synchro-guild could not take the dueldisks apart entirely. Not if they wanted to keep using them for duels. "Why are you calling, Dom? You're not here to simply chat." Cassius asked as he tapped some buttons on his disk. [Don't attempt to track me. This message is broadcast over the entire network. I am just here to check up on Alice's sister. How are you holding up, Emily? And I don't mean duel-wise.] The master could keep track of that of course. "Still swell." She replied quickly.."Wait, what did you say?"

[You heard correctly! This transmission is broadcast over the entire network. Every duelist has been following our conversation, and yours. Congratulations, you just _told_ your guild!]

"I did what?! " Cassius yelled. [Well, remember when we put that recording device in Uno's dueldisk. And remember when UNO dismantled said disk to create his printer. We had some leftover parts, and I gave Emily one of them before we left.] He revealed, as Emily reached for her shoulder. "You..." She plucked a small device from under her collar. He had placed it there when he tapped her shoulder. [This lovely device recorded your entire conversation, and now all dueldisks in the vicinity got the full log. Don't blame the girl, Cassius. I did it without telling her. Not that I lack faith in her acting abilities, but the best performances come from those who have nothing to hide. Thank you Emily. We will see you soon. Enjoy the fun, Cassius!] The signal broke up.

Everything the master said was true; Cassius' own words echoed throughout the base. And just in time too, Dom and the others had run out of places to hide by now. "What is..going on? The hell does he mean with counterparts?" The few duelists who had surrounded the gang were now too confused to keep up the hunt. "He did something like that behind our back?" Some like Jet felt betrayed. "No way man, this has got to be a trick somehow!" Others like Boris could not accept it, the whole story sounded like a bad joke. "Damn him!" Meanwhile those who were part of The Circle knew how much trouble this just heaped up on their plates. Though most of them had been knocked down by Adamant. The escaped XYZ-duelist could not prevent a smile, as he took in every transmitted word. "This is the price you pay." He walked up to one of the people he had beaten and placed his foot on the mans back. "You have one chance to answer me, where is your leader?"

...

"Well now it's over, Aaron." With renewed resolve, Emily drew her next card. "I activate a spell card; Shuffle Reborn! I can special summon a monster from the graveyard, while I have no monsters on the field!" Shuffle Reborn targeted Superheavy Samurai Susanowo(10/2400/3800) and summoned it, in attack position. "The monster summoned by Shuffle Reborn is banished during the endphase, and cannot activate its effects. So it will have to attack like any other card, from attack mode. Warlord Susanowo! Attack Stardust Spark Dragon!" The battle phase began. "No, Emily! I have to keep going. If not here, then on the other side! I activate Dice Roll Battle!" Cassius flipped his last trap. "By banishing a Speedroid tuner in my hand, and a Speedroid monster from my graveyard, I can synchro summon one monster with them as the materials." He banished a second Speedroid TriEyed Dice from his hand, along with Speedroid Double Yoyo in the graveyard. "Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!" Three stars from the tuner, four from the nontuner; Cassius had opened the extra deck to let the Clear dragon fly out once more. "Now, I activate the effect of Stardust Spark Dragon!" The starlight dragon flew parallel with Clear Wing and raised up a shield of energy. "That's not gonna stop the battle damage, Aaron!" Though Emily could call off her attack via the replay rule, she kept it going.

"No, it wont. That is why I am going to destroy Stardust!" Clear Wing suddenly grabbed Stardust by the neck with its claw. "You're negating the protection effect?" The dragon of white destroyed the dragon of the stars and absorbed its power into itself(5000/2000). "This is my victory, Emily." Cassius played the last trick in his sleeve. "Dice Roll Battle banishes itself from my graveyard to target two attack-position synchro monsters! Those two monsters will have to fight each other!" The Dice trap targeted Clear Wing and Susanowo. Their eyes lit up with rage and they tore at each other. "Stop trying to tell me what my future is! I go where I want to go, and I am not going to lose just yet!" Emily flipped her face-down spell card; _his_ spell card. "Limiter Removal!" The first spell he had set, the spell Shutendoji had destroyed, that was Susanowo's dying gift to Emily. Limiter Removal powered up the machine samurai(4800/3800). Though Clear Wing still destroyed Susanowo in the end, her lifepoints weren't completely blown away at the same time.

Emily's LP: 500

There was another card Emily could banish from her graveyard. "I banish Shuffle Reborn. This will shuffle one of my cards back into the deck and drew a new one.." Emily placed Superheavy Samurai SoulbangCannon down on her field and shuffled that into her deck. "I will show you what.." Then she drew her card, and she looked at it. _"No.."_ It was too late now to pretend it could be anything else. _"Skill Prisoner."_ It was not a monster, it wasn't anything that could save her.

"You put up a good duel, Emily. But as much as you have grown, you cannot defy fate." Cassius could tell that her drawn card was not what she had wished for. "Shut up. Stop talking about that.." Emily placed the trap card down anyway and ended her turn. "Don't worry, Emily. I will take care of everything." Cassius was not going to fall her bluff. "Not for me. I will fight you every step of the way! You're gonna have to tie me down to stop me from messing your plans up!" She only had words now to fight with, and so she would. "Please don't, Emily. I am a friend." Cassius had the chance to attack her, but he held himself back. "Not my friend... _Cassius_." She replied with as much venom as she could muster. "..You make me sad." Cassius closed his eyes. "Direct attack." He let Clear Wing Synchro Dragon(7/2500/2000) deliver the fatal hit. A whirlwind of green waves rose up and swirled around Emily. "Ghhhhraaa!"

Emily's LP: 0

"Kgh.." With that last attack, Clearwing had used its sudden and overpowering full physical force. The wind sapped all the energy out of Emily. "You..couldn't even look. You..coward." She grunted while she could. Soon her vision faded and her body fell down. "I got you." Cassius raced to her step and caught her. "You're not getting away now, we will survive together."

...

"Emily!" Alice screamed her sisters name once she heard a loud noise in the distance. "Whoa, calm down Alice! That could have been anything!" Uno heard the same thing. He just couldn't determine the source. The castle at present was a scene of pandemonium and infighting duelists. There were those loyal to Cassius and those who were against this seemingly crazy plan. The trio was stuck in the middle. "But.. " Alice wanted to explain why she believed that she believed that the sound came from Emily's duel. Yet she could not remember why she had that belief. It was a feeling in her gut. "I shouldn't have let her go. They're all leaving.. Mom, Emily, Eric." She grabbed Uno's arm and held it tight. "Alice. Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." He held her hand and gave Dom a look. He didn't have to ask; Dom had still been listening to the duel. "..." Dom shook his head to make Emily's fate clear. "..Rgh. We have to get her back, Dom." Uno would not wait on Dom any longer. The master still hadn't told them what his plan was, nor did he tell him now. "You're saying we should go back down there, after we took all that effort to get up here?" Dom sighed. They were mere feet away from his station and his disciples, but unable to reach it without being seen.

"I wouldn't count on going there either."

"Jet!" It was inevitable that someone like the blackwing-duelist would spot them. "Chill. I'm not here to start a fight." He raised his hands. "The rest dont wanna hear it yet, but this is some serious bullcrap going on here. When I heard Cassius' wacko story, I wanted to get out. But I can't. The only safe way down this mountain is through the road, and they blocked that path. We're stuck here just like you. So.." He pointed a finger towards Uno. "Maybe we can help each other out.."

(To be Continued in Annex 080: Head of the Round Table)

 **New Cards used by Emily Brandt  
** Superheavy Samurai Blowtorch  
Superheavy Samurai Thief

-  
Shuffle Reborn

 **New Cards used by Cassius  
** Stardust Spark Dragon

-  
Synchro Cracker

-  
Stardust Re-Spark  
Dice Roll Battle


	80. Head of the Round Table

**Annex 080: Head of the Round Table**

The last few days had been very hard on James Brandt. He was not usually separated from his two daughters for this long, and there was a reason for that. Because of Alice's 'situation', he tended to keep her close to him at all times. The Brandts never stayed in any town for more than a few years. Sometimes he wondered if this always-moving isolation was doing more harm than good. At first it seemed to go wonderful, and he could tell the whole town about how proud he was of her and Emily. Now the two were facing the worst consequences of going out in the world and he couldn't do anything to help them. And he was not the only one to feel this way. "Enough is enough, my baby-boy is somewhere out there and I am going to find him!" Erics mother had come by often to ask how her son was doing, and the less information he had, the more agitated she got. "Brandt, your kids are out there too! We have to find them!" She came to him this time for a more direct question, she wanted to use him and his car. "I know. But we can't just leave, the whole country is locked down." There were reasons to go and reasons to stay. From time to time even he felt the latter were stronger than the former. "I'd like to see any man try to stop a mother looking for her son." Mrs. Stonewell fumed. She didn't care who got in her way, she would find Eric.

"Huh?" There was a knock on the door. This was a strange hour to be receiving visitors. "Good evening. I hope I am not intruding on anything." When James opened the door he was greeted by a girl in a half-black and half-white dress. "You're.." She was one of the contestants in the tournament. He recognized her from the TV. "Dame Phoebe?" Mrs. Stonewell was familiar with her too. "Ah. It is good to see you too, and convenient. I think I know what you two have been buzzing about.. and I can help you, if you let me."

...

Eric's LP: 2900 Synchro Duelist's LP: 5600

As for Eric himself, he had seen better days. "Okay you are really getting on my nerves. Didn't you hear what your own boss said? He is trying to scramble your brains, all of them!" Despite the castle-wide announcement that Cassius inadvertently gave, there were still people after him. Two of them had cornered him in the cantina. "I don't understand any of what he said, all I understand is that someone needs to be captured right here!" One girl controlled a Celestial Wolf Lord Blue Sirius(6/2400/1500) and had one trap card set. "Yeah, we don't accept fusion guilders around here. Especially not when they help one our enemies escape!" The other controlled Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier(7/2700/2000). "Ragh. You two got messed up priorities! They were talking about the end of the world! Am I more dangerous than that?" Eric could see that there was no reasoning with these people. At least he now had a considerable amount of Infernoids in his graveyard. "Whatever! My turn!"

"I banish three Infernoids from the graveyard to special summon Infernoid Nemehoth from my graveyard!" The first was the tenth; the great plague serpent Onuncu(10/3000/3000) burst out of its infernal prison. "Time for your synchros to die!" Onuncu activated its effect, which wiped out all monsters on the field. Sirius and Trishula fell into a fiery tomb. "Yeah, well, you're gonna regret that!" The girl scoffed as the effect of her dying beast came into play. "Sirius will eat 2400 of your monsters attackpoints when he gets destroyed!" The ghost of the wolf lord rose from the grave and passed its jaws through the hell dragon. Infernoid Onuncu(600/3000) was critically weakened. "Pft. I already moved on to the next demon!" Eric flipped his trap, Mischief of the Yokai. "I can't summon any Infernoid though, because I control more than 8 levels. But wait.." The Yokai trap removed two of Onuncu's(8/600/3000) level stars. "Oh look, level eight.." After this Eric banished three more Infernoids to summon an Infernoid from his hand. "Go, Infernoid Lilith!" The consort of Onuncu, great serpent Devyaty(9/2900/2900), devoured the three souls to give itself life. "Burn, traps, burn, spells!" Devyaty's effect destroyed all of their face-down traps, paving the way for an open attack.

"Hmph. Think you're so good? Go ahead and hit us. We can take it, and on the next turn.." The guy started to brag. "I'm gonna stop you there, pal." Eric did not want to waste any more time on these fools. He had friends to get back to. "I sacrifice my two monsters to special summon Legendary Maju Garzett!" The two infernal serpents coiled together to form a helixical pattern. Their bodies combusted into a trail of ash and smoke, and a mutated winged demon(9/5900/0) was born from that smoke. "Legendary..""'Maju Garzett?" The two opponents had no response to this, other than dumbfoundedness. "Forgot this card even existed, did ya? Well.. let me give you a refresher. Garzett can be special summoned by tributing other monsters and he gets the original attackpoints of those monsters. I admit, I'm dying to see what it looks like in motion." Eric brought his hand down. "Let's find out together! Direct attack!" The True Demon beast gathered vile magic in the yellow orbs on its body and brought them together to create a blast big enough to remove the remainder of its targets lifepoints.

Synchro Duelist's LP: 0

"Agh. That didn't count!" The two cursed and advanced on Eric. "Hey, what are you doing? The duel's over. I won!" He did not like where this was going. He had to get passed these mooks if he wanted to run away. "You probably cheated anyway, that's what all fusion duelists do! You're not.." The two got in close. But then a third person put herself in between the two. "Alright guys, knock it off. We have bigger issues on our plate!" It was Akai. "Get out of the way, Akai! You don't get to boss us around just because you're higher ranked now!" The girl growled. "Will you two use your brains already? You know what Cassius just said, we were never his equals! He lied to us, everything they told us was a sham. So why fight for him?" Eventually she got through to them. "..But what do we do then?" They had to be mad at someone. "Telling everyone else to stop dueling would be a nice start." She suggested. The two seemed to agree with that idea and cleared the room.

"Hey, thanks." Eric said. "Don't mention it..." Akai sighed. "Okay, so this is crazy. Where is that Dom guy? Right now I trust him a lot more than I do Cassius. Does he have a plan?" Akai was certain of one fact, they needed to be united on this. "If he did, he didn't tell me. I kinda lost track of where they were after I ran here.."

...

One floor below Cassius and his partners held up in the monitor room. They controlled the lower levels while chaos reigned above. With only a handful of functions restored and Adamant on the loose, there seemed to be end in sight for the bad news. Until one other member gave this call through Cassius' dueldisk. "Cassius, we have an issue. We have found Dom, and he isn't alone. Some of our duelists are with him, and he is standing here in front of me." Cassius, who had blamed this whole mess on the cardmaker, felt his blood boiling. "Dom.." Now Dom was also taking his allies away. "Open a visual line!"

"You.." Jets dueldisk created a hologram of Cassius, so he could greet the master and his small army. "Hey, Cassius.. did you miss me?" If Doms intent had been to further irritate Cassius, his reply succeeded at that. "Is this it? Where are the others? Where is Alice?" Dom did not see her, Eric or Uno anywhere. "I will answer that as soon as you tell us where Emily is." Dom countered. "She is in a safe place! I am the one who is trying to save her.. and all of youl!" Cassius pleaded with the duelists who stood besides Dom. "Yeah, I was so looking forward to living with another me, Chief. If any of that story is real to begin with." Jet said with a sneer. Cassius was insane or the world was. Either way, he was getting away from here. "Doesn't look like they agree, Cassius. My fans outnumber your fans. You could try to wait or you can let us down and then we can discuss this like proper gentle..."

"Man?" Then everybody froze. While Dom had prattled on, Cassius had sent in an order to desynchronize everyone down there. It seemingly affected all of them, except Dom. "Oh. I really must have gotten to you." The masked man coughed as his body remained mobile. "You.. why aren't you.." Cassius flinched. "Paralyzed? If I were to hazard a guess; Uno's pendulum did this favor to me. Now I really didn't expect you to do this to your 'friends'."

"Not all of them, master Dom." Unexpectedly, one of the other duelists broke out his paralysis and grabbed Dom by the arm. "Oh. A fellow actor. Well you had me fooled." This man was not desynchronized either. In fact he was synchronized all the way. It was the Goyo-duelist Gareth. "You could call me that. Cassius figured it would be smart to not reveal all members to a man like you, not while your disciples were still out there." Gareth was part of the Circle too, who knew how many members they had. "No wonder the guild counted on you to make it to the finals." Dom remarked rather casually as Gareth relieved the master of his dueldisk. "Fun's over, Cardmaker. This is twice now that you managed to keep your identity a secret. There wont be a third time. Take of your mask.." Gareth was not going to say it again. "Gladly." Still the master seemed very cooperative. He placed his hands on the card-back colored dome and slowly lifted it. Cassius and his partners waited with bated breath.

What they got was not what they expected, in any possible way. "Is there something wrong with my face?" It was not the master but the disciple; Zachary Creffield. "YOU!?" Cassius yelled. "Yes, yours truly. You have to forgive us for this deception, but I couldn't very well put my master in harms way. So I took his part.." He explained while making a formal bow. "You took... how long? How come you sounded like him?" Gareth did not know where to begin. Jim had not noticed anything off earlier. "Since we returned from the museum, before I ordered your friend Jim and the others to come with me. Apparently I performed very well. Maybe the stage should have been my calling. I will help you with your other question too.." Zach picked up the mask. "The mask has a voice synthesizer. Dom never uses his own voice for public appearances." The inside of the mask held a lot of technical gizmo's, it was no wonder it was so oversized. Zach did not know how the master could stand it for hours on end.

"Then where is he? Where is Dom?" He had to be somewhere, Cassius had to know. "Oh, you should already know that.."

...

There was a part of the synchro base that most of the guild were not aware of, a round circular chamber hidden below ground. The only way to access it was through the elevator, and only if _she_ allowed it. This room belonged to one person, a middle-aged woman who rested in a high-tech wheelchair that was strapped to a million wires. The wires traveled all the way across the floor, walls and ceiling. She was the brain of this nerve center, nothing happened without her knowing about it. Normally. With the unexpected blackout, half of her senses were shut down. And the others were dealing with difficulties, due to the nature of the masks the targets were wearing. Now that Dom had been revealed to be Zach, she could see the plan he was following. Unfortunately that plan was now in its final stage. "Knock, Knock." The doors to her chamber opened for four individuals. Of course, with the elevators out of commission and the doors powerless, people could just descend the shaft to get force their way down and inside. "I hope you don't mind us resting here. It was a long climb!"

They were all wearing the same mask, but different clothes. "Vesper, I take it?" The one in the middle was definitely the real Dom. "Oh my god, why does she have all those things stuck inside of her?" One of them, the shortest one, let out a shriek upon first seeing the woman. "She is plugged into the system that operates this base." The tallest explained the situation accurately. "Then you are the mysterious lady who synchronizes and desynchronizes people?" The fourth was a male, with no discernible traits.

"Your mask. It will not protect you." The woman finally spoke and raised her hand. "Oh? In that case.." As a response, the fourth trespasser took of his mask and revealed himself to be Uno. "No need to hide who we are!" He grabbed his pendulum and it flashed a sharp light that made Vesper withdraw her hand. "The pendulum.." She rasped. "Yeah people tell me these crystals keep people anchored to one timeline. Guess what, you wont be pushing anyone's mind out of time, lady."

"...This place, how did you locate it?" The woman scanned the four duelists. She had to resort to verbal communication to get her answers. "You can't read our minds, can you?" The tall one said with a satisfied tone. "She can read our minds? Is that why he had to put these on?" Alice asked as she was the next to take of the mask. She was glad to be free from it. "If she can move minds, she can do whatever she wants with them as well. That is my reasoning." The real Dom stepped forward. "Now how did I find you? Easy. You don't spend a lot of time designing underground networks without learning a thing or two about spacing. I could tell from the first day that something was off here. And when I heard what Adamant had to say, I got curious enough to investi..gate." Dom cleared his throat. "Ahem, new mask. Takes some getting used to.. Anyway. At Dreamworld I developed the technology for three-dimensional image mapping. It was a cinch for me and my disciples to create a full layout of your compound. That is how we discovered this super secret room and the path that led to it." He clapped his hands. "Of course, we needed to shut down all surveillance cameras first. Luckily your scan also showed us the weak points in your power-grid. I wouldn't have lowered myself to stealing tips from the XYZ-guild handbook, but when you turned my own bodyguard against me,.. well, I didn't feel so guilty about it anymore."

"Zachary Creffield, a distraction." Vesper determined. "Bingo. Someone had draw the eyes of all your servants away. Even with all the cameras down, I couldn't risk you finding out what we really wanted to do. And I gotta tell you, these masks are really paying off." Doms glad that he always carried a case full of spares with him. "Why are you here?" The woman then inquired. "Uno is here to keep your powers tied down. The girl is here because she refuses to leave Uno's side. I am here to protect my master." Iria, who now also removed her mask, took out her dueldisk and created a barrier around the room. "And I am here, to have that talk I requested. If Cassius is being stubborn, I will just go straight to the source." The master, naturally, was the only one who kept his face hidden. "But..who is she?" Alice still didn't understand why this lady was here, or why she looked like that. "I am glad you asked, Alice! Vesper, stop me if I get anything wrong, but I believe you are the first of your kind. You are the one who started the Synchro guild.."

"I am the synchro guild." She said as her hand pushed a few buttons on her chair. "And.. a duelist, as well." A disk-blade slid out of the side of the chair, thirteen zones were on the blade. "Sir, look out!" Iria saw that Vesper was initiating a duel. "No Iria, I'll take this one!" But it was Dom and not her, who met the call. "Dom, what are you doing? If anyone should be dueling her.." Uno had the pendulum, he felt he had the best shot against her. "Sorry, Uno. I know you two are from the same world, but I am the one whose mind she hasn't been able to read since the start." Dom activated his dueldisk properly. "This should be between creator and creator. We can talk and fight at the same time!" Dom drew five cards.

Vespers LP: 8000 Doms LP: 8000

"It will be your cards against ours, creator." Vesper had the first turn. "PSY-Frame Circuit." And she played a field spell card on her chair that changed the appearance of the room. The lightning in the wires turned golden green and a ring-pattern was drawn on the floor. "What.." Dom the cardmaker did not recognize this spell. "Sir, cards of these kind were not on UNO's list." Iria had scanned the field with her own dueldisk. Despite its unfamiliarity, it was treated as an official card. "So, whole new cards, won't be able to predict my opponents strategy, Interesting. Good thing, I have my own brand of special cards! I activate the pendulum monster, Performage Plushfire!" He started out by placing a stitched and stuffed flame in a cone in the left pendulum zone.

"This will be your first of many mistakes. You activated a spell card while monsters do not exist on my field." Vesper made her move now. "The tuner monster, PSY-Framegear Delta, can summon itself from my hand under these conditions, to negate and destroy your spell." A masked two-handed robot(2/1200/0) made from gold and silver dropped down to the field. It fired a static spark at Plushfire to destroy it. "And Delta also summons one PSY-Frame Driver card from my deck." An electrically charged psychic fighter(6/2500/0) in a black uniform landed besides the Framegear. "Psyframe Circuit; If a PSY-Frame monster is Special Summoned I can synchro summon 1 synchro monster, using PSY-Frame monsters. Summon Synchro, PSY-Framelord Omega! A Psyframe Driver and any Psyframe Gear, together they create a Lord!" As the nontuner and tuner were summoned together, they were synchronized by the field spell. Delta connected and changed the Driver into a more mechanical masked psychic(8/2800/2200) in spiked green and silver armor. "Oh." Dom saw the bottom line now. But then, he did not think this was going to be easy.

(To be Continued in Annex 081: NetWork)

 **New Cards used by Eric Stonewell  
** Legendary Maju Garzett

 **New Cards used by Synchro Duelists  
** Celestial Wolf Lord Blue Sirius

 **New Cards used by Vesper  
** PSY-Framegear Delta  
PSY-Frame Driver

-  
PSY-Framelord Omega

-  
PSY-Frame Circuit

 **New Cards used by Dom**  
Performage Plushfire


	81. NetWork

**Annex 081: NetWork**

Doms LP: 8000 Vespers LP: 8000

Doms enemy was not your normal duelist, nor was she using cards from a standard selection. "Handtraps and quick synchros? That's an unsual combination." Iria and the others could at least analyze what they saw right now. PsyFrame tuners couldn't be normal summoned and had to be summoned by effects, but they could summon their nontuner material from the hand, deck and graveyard. That was what Vesper had done just now to create PsyFrame Lord Omega(8/2800/2200) and destroy Doms pendulum monster at the same time. "I guess, since she is from another time, she has different cards. Right?" It made sense to Alice, Vesper was not from this world. "Maybe.. But it's just like with the time travelers. How can these cards interact with.. wait.." Uno was confused, but one of his memories helped him out a little. "When I was on the other side, my dueldisk could connect to their network. Both timelines share this. Does this mean the 'divergence' happened after the game was created?" It was possible. Nobody knew the exact date of the split. Then again, if the Zodiac travelers were to be believed. The game could be older than time itself.

"The Lord Omega may banish itself and one random card in a players hand until my next standby phase." Vesper continued Doms turn by activating Omega's effect. The Psychic lord opened a dimensional portal with swipe of its hand. "Hey." The portal sucked one of Doms cards up before it banished Omega himself. The dimensions closed up afterwards. "Ah, the synchro monsters can banish themselves so that you can activate more Psyframe Gears from your hand. Interesting." Dom rubbed his hands together. "Now it's my turn to show off! When Performage Plushfire is destroyed while he is on my field, I can special summon a Performage from my deck! And yes that might be Plushfire's monster effect and not his spell effect, but he became a monster card again when he died, so.." The leftover flames from Plushfire targeted the deck and flushed out Performage Trick Clown(4/1600/1200). "Next up!" Dom normal summoned another monster, Performage Damage Juggler(4/1500/1000). "I will meet your synchro summon with an XYZ-Summon!" Dom overlayed Damage Juggler with Trick Clown and XYZ-summoned his star XYZ-monster; Performage Trapeze Magician(4/2500/2000) in attack position.

"You summoned a monster." But activations were not the only thing Vesper could respond to. "PSY-Framegear Alpha can summon itself and Psy-Frame Driver." Another masked gear(1/500/0) came from her hand, this one looked more like a torture device. Meanwhile the first PSY-Frame Driver(6/2500/0) was special summoned from the graveyard. "Alpha adds a PSY-Frame card from my deck to my hand with its effect." Vesper placed a PSY-Frame Gamma card into Vespers hand, before she moved on to activating her field spell. "Summon Synchro, PSY-Framelord Zeta." PSY-Frame Circuit tuned the level 1 Alpha with the revived Driver. PsyFrame Driver was a material for a level 7 synchro monster as well. "Oh." Dom observed the torture mask clamping down on the fighters head and decking him(7/2500/1800) out in a less decorated spiked battlesuit, similar to Omega's. "The Lord Zeta may banish itself, to remove one attack-position monster on the opposite side until my next turn." Zeta created his own gateway. "Oh drat." This time Dom had to relinquish a card from his field, Trapeze Magician and Zeta were locked away in the banished zone.

"But no matter how a XYZ-monster leaves the field, its materials will go to the graveyard!" Dom shouted as Damage Juggler and Trick Clown were detached before Trapeze Magician disappeared. The Clown had its effect activated when it was sent to the graveyard. "You are activating a monsters effect." Unfortunately.. "Oh come on." There was a PSY-framegear for that too. "Psy-Framegear Gamma negates that monsters effect and destroys it. Then it summons itself and the PSY-Frame Driver." Gamma, another spiked and steel framed mask(2/1200/0), appeared on the field as it stabbed through the Trick Clown card. Doms effect was blocked, while Vesper could summon the Driver a third time. "Summon Synchro Thought Ruler." Immediately PSY-Frame Circuit tuned Gamma with the Driver. She did not make a Lord this time though, just the winged skeletal psychic; Thought Ruler Archfiend(8/2700/2300). "Well this is going great so far.. Guess all that's left is to.. use this spell, Chicken Game!" He activated his field spell, which took over half of the room. "As long as this spell is on the field, whoever has the least life takes no damage! Also by paying 1000 lifepoints, I can activate one of several effects! Like drawing a card!"

Doms LP: 7000

Dom took the card from his deck and placed it face-down. "Okay. That was a turn of fighting, now let's talk. To start with, you can tell me how you learned this whole desynchronization trick." He passed the turn to Vesper. Uno and the others waited for her to speak. "When you can damage me, than you deserve an answer." Vesper said dismissively as the Psyframe Lords Omega and Zeta returned to the field, along with Trapeze Magician. "Your cards are mine to play with, until then." Since Chicken Game was a field spell, she could activate it too. She payed 1000 lifepoints to draw once

Vespers LP: 7000

Vesper then reactivated the effect of PSYFramelord Zeta, and targeted Trapeze Magician again. "Damage you say? Why that's my specialty!" Dom had hoped she would lower her life as well. With equal lifepoints, both players could take damage. "I activate Ring of Destruction!" He flipped his trap. "I destroy PSY-Framelord Zeta! Then me and you will take damage equal to its original attackpoints!" A ring of explosive grenades was tossed towards the Framelord. "Unsurprising, creator." Vesper had an answer for that too. She calmly activated the effect of Thought Ruler Archfiend, paying another 1000 lifepoints to negate the effect of his trap card that targeted one psychic monster on the field. "Your mask does not make you less predictable." Now Zeta could finish its banishing effect. He and the XYZ-Performage were once again removed from the field for one whole turn.

Vespers LP: 6000

"You think?" Dom suddenly placed a card from his hand on the field. "When one of my traps has its effect negated, guess who I can summon to the field! In defense mode, here is Acrobat Magician!" A bright and colorful pendulum magician(5/800/2300) with a huge purple afro bounded towards the nearest empty monsterzone. "Wow. His monsters are like yours." Alice was starting to see the resemblance to both Uno's Performapals and Magicians. "I think he enjoys them even more than me." Dom was no stranger to his own deck, he was dancing along with his Acrobat. "Did that surprise you .." He began to say, right as Thought Ruler Archfiend massacred the Acrobat Magician with a single attack from its claws. "Do not waste time, creator. There is little of it." The Lord Omega then clapped its hands together to release a psychic current that struck Dom. "Gyaaa... Yahhh.. Yikes!"

Doms LP: 4200

"Sir Dom! Are you injured?" Iria yelled. "No. I don't think so. But it was very electrifying.. Psychic energy, she's making me think the pain." He slapped his own hand to come to his senses. "But I'm not worried about getting my hands dirty.." Once the pain was gone he picked up a card from the field. "By the way, destroying Acrobat Magician in battle does not kill him. That;s why your Thought Ruler didn't heal your lifepoints. Destruction places him in the pendulum zone as a spell!" The pendulum magician had a scale of 2, so he jumped into the right pendulum zone. "Now all I need is another pendulum. Hmm. Is your turn done yet?" He asked the opponent. Vesper placed a trap card down. "It is now." Dom could take his second turn. "Alright." He drew. "Oh. Looks like I am gonna have to ask Chicken Game for another favor." Dom moved his hand. So did Vesper.

"Creator, you are not in control" She activated a continuous trap; PSY-Frame Overload. "Each turn, PSY-Frame Overload will banish 1 PSY-Frame monster to banish one card on the field face-down." PSY-Framelord Omega was the chosen sacrifice. Its energy overloaded, tearing open time and space. "Ack." The gateway claimed Chicken Game, banishing it permanently. "You're one pain in the neck, Vesper. But that's okay! Because.." Dom activated a card from his hand. "I already had pendulum monsters anyway! I set the scale, Dragonpit Magician!" The scale 8 dragon mage took up the other pendulum zone.

"! You tricked her?" Uno was not suprirsed that he, he was surprised that it had actually worked on Vesper. She had wasted her trap on Doms spell now. "Apparently!" Dom laughed. He was almost ready to use his pendulums. "I'll banish Damage Juggler from my graveyard to add Performage Cup Tricker from my deck!" First he needed to add more summonable cards to his hand. "Now, I pendulum summon Performage Plushfire from the extra deck! And from my hand I summon Performage Cup Tricker and Breaker ther Dark Magical Warrior!" The fire cone returned. Joining him was a sprite(5/1200/1400) hiding in a large green cup and the upgraded magical swordsman Breaker(6/1600/1000). Because Breaker had been pendulum summoned, he(2800/1000) gained 3 spellcounters and 400 attackpoints for each of those counters. "Lets spruce him up a bit more! I activate Wonder Wand!" Dom gave Dark Breaker an equip spell that added 500 attackpoints to a Magician like him(6/3300/1000) "Now, a deal is a deal.. So.." Dom entered the battle phase. "Here is my proposal!" The Dark Magic Knight enchanted his sword and dashed towards the Thought Ruler Archfiend. The demon died to a single cut. "..." Vesper held her tongue for a brief moment. "You made a vow, Vesper. Honor it." Iria reminded her that, though the damage was minimal, it still counted. "Very well.."

Vespers LP: 5300

 _Performage Cup Tricker, 5/1200/1400 Light/Spellcaster/Pendulum  
1[You can target 1 Xyz Monster you control; attach this card to it as an Xyz Material.]1_  
 _You can detach 1 Xyz Material from 1 Xyz monster on the field; Special Summon this card from your hand._  
 _If this card is sent to the Graveyard to activate a 'Performage' monster's effect you can target 1 Xyz-Monster you control;_  
 _Detach 1 Xyz Material attached to the target and attach it to another Xyz Monster you control as an Xyz Material._

"The tool was already there. The woman I was here and the woman I was there, we both studied the mind and its capabilities. My research department was part of the team that discovered the second timeline. There were many who tried to develop a tool to communicate with the other side, using the technology our world developed. My research focused on the mind.. and made me the first to cross over and synchronize with myself. They had no idea yet what state our two worlds were in. That we realized the destructive nature of our coexistence, happened only when we compared notes. We tried to convince our superiors of the danger. Those fools would not listen to our plan to avoid extinction. I had to start on my own, to leave, to create an organization on both sides to prepare for the end. That is what you see here; The Circle." Vesper raised her hands to the ceiling. "Then who are the others? What are they doing?" The way she spoke, Uno started to worry about the state of his home dimension. "Those are new questions. I only needed to answer one. Your turn, continue it."

"My pleasure. Plushfire, direct attack!" The fire performage spat a few plush balls of flame towards the wide-open Vesper. She was already picking her response. "Oh boy. Here we go again." Uno groaned as another PSY-Frame tuner was summoned, this one looked like an armor(1/700/0) for the waist and legs. "PSY-Framegear Beta is summoned when the enemy attacks while I have no monsters to defend me. The Driver will be special summoned, the attacking monster will be destroyed and the battle phase will be ended." Beta stabbed Plushfire with its body, tearing the stuffing out of it. In exchange for this death there was the resurrection of PSY-Frame Driver. "Summon synchro, PSY-Framelord Zeta." The PSY-Frame field spell used Beta and the level 6 Driver as materials for a second Zetalord(7/2500/1800), summoning it in attack position.

"You know it feels like you're letting me do all the work for you, Vesper. But hey, that works both ways." Since Performage Plushfire had been destroyed again, Dom could activate its summoning effect. The fiery Performage special summoned a second Performage Cup Tricker(5/1200/1400) from his deck. "Also, when a monster is destroyed by a card effect, Acrobat Magician can be special summoned from the pendulum zone!" The Acrobat jumped up high and made a perfect landing in Plushfire's old spot. "I know what you're thinking, but first let's get rid of PSY-Frame Overload." Dom took one spellcounter away from Dark Breaker(2400/1000) to trigger its spell/trap destruction effect. The swordsman sliced the continuous trap into fragments. "I sacrifice Dark Breaker!" Wonder Wands second effect tributed its wielder to draw two cards. The Magic warrior and his equipment left the field. "Only three level 5 monsters left. Which allows me to introduce.. In attack mode, Performage Shadowmaker!" Dom overlayed the two CupTrickers with Acrobat Magician and XYZ-summoned a rank 5 monster. "Shadowmaker?" Alice and the others couldn't see it at first, they had to look down to spot it. "Aha!" It was an actual shadow, a masked black figure(5/2600/1000) that wore a fancy suit and star-covered hat. "What can it do? You will have to keep playing to find out! I set two cards in the spell/trap zone and end my turn!"

 _Performage Shadow Maker, 5/2600/1000 Dark/Spellcaster/XYZ  
_ _3 Level 5 monsters  
_ _Once per turn, during either player's turn, if this card is targeted by a card effect:  
_ _You can detach 1 Xyz Material from this card; Special summon 1 "Performage Shadow Maker" from your extra deck.  
_ _If this card is removed from the field during your opponents turn: You can special summon 1 "Performage" monster from your deck._

"You handle those cards well, those cards you did not create. However it is nothing new to us, the power of pendulum." Vesper claimed as she drew her card. "You created pendulum cards as well?" This was at odds with what Uno had heard from the Zodiac travelers. They had pendulum cards too, and they did not even come from Vespers world. "You must realize by now, our world has its own creators. Our duelists thrived on it. We had pendulums first. That is why. Something I don't already knowthere is not something you can show me.. Creator." In her standby phase Psylord Zeta and Trapeze Magician were released from the banished zone. "Sounds like a boring life if it has no twists and turns." Dom shrugged. "Better to live like that, than to live in ignorance. By banishing PSY-Frame Overload from the grave, one PSY-Frame card can be added to my hand. Now it is your turn, creator." Vespers last act involved removing her trap to take a Epsilon Framegear out of her deck. "Epsilon.. which letter was that again?" Dom turned to Iria for advise. "The fifth, sir. This one appears to be using traps." She had kept track of every played card so far. This was a new PSY-Framegear. "Knew I could count on you, Iria. See Vesper, nobody can do everything by themselves."

"What you are saying, you do not know." Vesper started the battle phase and made the PSY-lord Zetas attack Shadowmaker. Though Zeta was the weaker monster, it had PSY-Frame Circuits second effect to back it up. By discarding a PSY-Frame monster from Vespers hand, any battling PSYFrame would gain the attackpoints of the discarded monster for the rest of the turn. But Dom was aware of that. "Maybe, but don't understimate the predictable. Even that can dazzle you!" And Dom used his trap card; Quaking Mirror Force. "!?" The Mirror Force countered the attack. A storm of dust and sand arose and all of Vespers monsters were forced into face-down defense position. "I bet you have one of these traps on your side too!" Vesper could not switch her monsters back in attack-position manually either, Quaking Mirror Force kept its victims face-down. "It is annoying, your love for cards of all sizes.. Second main phase." The woman placed a trap card face-down. "Then it is your turn, creator."

"Okay. Where will this go.." Dom drew his next card. "Aha!" He summoned it, the Engraver of the Mark(4/1800/1200), in attack position. "I activate the Engravers effect.. and target my own monster!" The curse laying magician placed the Mark of destruction on Performage Shadowmaker. In two turns it would die. However.. "When Shadowmaker is targeted by an effect, he can use up one XYZ-material to summon a copy of himself!" The shadow laughed as it squirmed on the ground. Its black body split up as another Performage Shadowmaker(5/2600/1000) was special summoned from the extra deck. "Now for my next trick! A classic!" The XYZ-material Dom had detached to activate his XYZ-monsters effect was Performage Cup Tricker. "With Cup Tricker sent to the graveyard, it can target Shadowmaker and switch one of his XYZ-materials to another XYZ-monster!" The overlayed Acrobat Magician jumped from the rank 5 Performage to the rank 4 Trapeze Mage. "This of course means.." With another effect targeting the Shadow, it could use its last XYZ-material to summon the third Performage Shadowmaker(5/2600/1000). "And to wrap it all up with a neat and tidy bow!" Dom removed the new XYZ-material from Trapeze Magician. It targeted the first Shadowmaker, which now allowed it to attack twice in this battle phase. "Alright Vesper, this should give us the full spread!" He finally began the battle phase, attacking first with the first Shadowmaker.

"Do not presume too much, creator... PSY-Framegear Multi-Threader." Vesper activated an effect from her hand. The card she discarded made a PSY-Framegear indestructible, whether they were face-up or face-down. The Zetalord survived the first attack. "The Synchro Guild is one perfect union. I understand the use of allies all too well." The meaning of her words became apparent quickly. "Halt! Drop your disk and step away from miss Vesper!" When Gareth and few other duelists emerged from the door. "They found us! How? Did Zach tell them?"

"Creffield wouldn't tell them anything." Despite everything, Iria did not take her fellow disciple for a weakwilled man. "He did not have to. I did." Vesper revealed. "What? How? You didn't pass on any messages. You couldn't." Uno was pretty damn sure he hadn't seen her do anything but play the game. "Maybe she didn't have to.. Maybe she..did it in the other timeline?" Alice speculated. "Blast! They must have a nerve center just like this one over there!" Uno gasped. "It took you long enough to figure that out." Gareth chuckled. "Yes. That is how I communicate with them. On the other side I do not keep myself hidden from anyone. Dom, while you were dueling me, my other half told their counterparts everything. And they will defeat your friends, and remove that pendulum user's power out of the equation." Vesper stated with absolute certainty. "You know, Vesper.. I think that you spent so much time convincing yourself, _you_ just don't want to give up on what you started. I know what that feels like..."

Dom did not get the time to finish the speech he had prepared, because a loud rumbling filled the chamber. "Wh-what is that!? An earthquake? Bombs?" Alice yelled. It had to be something powerful if it could be felt all the way down here. "Tch.. Cassius! What is happening?" Gareth called the control room. "It.. It is the XYZ-Guild. They have activated the devices.. all over the country!"

(To be Continued in Annex 082: Closer than This)

 **New Cards used by Dom**  
Acrobat Magician  
 _Performage Cup Tricker (+)_

 _-  
Performage Shadowmaker (+)_

-  
Chicken Game  
Wonder Wand

-  
Quaking Mirror Force

 _(+ Based on the monster used by Dennis in YGO Arc-V)_

 **New Cards used by Vesper**  
PSY-Framegear Alpha  
PSY-Framegear Gamma  
PSY-Framegear Beta  
PSY-Framegear Multi-Threader  
-

PSY-Framelord Zeta  
Thought Ruler Archfiend

-  
PSY-Frame Overload


	82. Closer than This

**Annex 082: Closer than This**

Getting out of a castle was surprisingly harder than it looked. The front gate was physically closed, and the walls were high enough to kill anyone brave/stupid enough to jump down from them. It was almost as if this place was a fortress of sorts. "What the hell?" But at least the night sky gave some comfort to Eric and Akai, until the earthquake and everything that followed happened. "Took the words right out of my mouth." The sky had gone purple. Not all at once; it looked more like a transparent curtain had been thrown over the lands. They could still see the stars and clouds, everything was just colored in differently. "You think this has anything to do with what is going on over here?" Each horizon had been affected, there was no saying where it started or ended. "No. No way. Even with all that crazy stuff Cassius said, I can't believe he'd do this. It must be .." Akai flinched as she saw something out of the corner of her eye. "Are those. helicopters?" There were black dots in the sky, loud ones. "Really? I hope so, we could use the army!" This was the best possible news. "Wait." It was the worst possible news. "It's.."

...

"The XYZ-Guild? What have they done?" Those down below had it even worse; they could not see. They could only go by what Cassius was telling them. "It appears to be some form of forcefield. Those 'bombs' that they placed have to be the cause. They're trying to seal us in and isolate us from the rest of the world." That was all he could figure out right now with their system crippled. The net and the local channels were probably all over this. "Why didn't our guy inside the guild warn us about this?" Gareth cursed. "I do not know. I... this is just the beginning. Gareth, take care of Dom. We must protect Vesper at all costs!" Cassius cut off the signal. "Hmph. You heard him. We have bigger problems on our hands now" Gareth and his cronies advanced on the gang. "We do not yield. You do not offer an equal partnership, not that we would have accepted that anyway." Iria stood her ground. And Uno was there to back her up. "The way I see it, you're just as bad as the XYZ-Guild. You should have worked together with everyone from the get-go!"

Doms LP: 4200 Vespers LP: 5300

"Hear hear!" With everyone backing Dom up, he himself found the energy needed to wrap this duel up. "What do you say, Vesper? Let's bring er up for round two!" The first of three Shadowmakers(5/2600/1000) came in for a second swing against the defending Psylord Zeta(7/2500/1800), thanks to the dual attack gift of Trapeze Magician. "Your ignorance is unparalleled, I say." Vesper retaliated with two effects. The first came through her flipped continuous trap. "PSY-Frame Acceleration. The cost of 500 lifepoints, and one PSY-Frame monster is removed for one turn," She paid the life and the Accelerator banished the yet to be flipped PSY-Lord Zeta from the field. "PSY-Frame Accelerator also summons one PSY-Frame from my hand, when a PSY-Frame monster is removed by an effect." The traps second effect chained to its first. It special summoned PSY-Framegear Epsilon(2/1500/0), the masked chariot of the Psylords, in attack position. "Multi-Threader can be summoned from the graveyard, when a PSY-frame tuner is special summoned." The younger version of the usual driver, the telekinetic Multithreader6/0/2500) returned in defense mode. "Summon synchro!" Thus the conditions for PSY-Frame Circuit were met. Vespers field spell could unite tuner with nontuner, to perform a PSY-Framelord synchro summon. Because the Multi-Threader treated itself as a PSY-Frame Driver.

Vespers LP: 4800

"Well you certainly have this all figured out. You probably can see everything coming.. except.." Dom shook his head. "I bet you didn't consider... Dimension Barrier!" He flipped his last trap. "I declare Synchro! This turn, all synchro monster effects are negated! Synchro monsters can't be summoned either!" The Barrier sealed Psylord Zeta's powers, and disrupted the union between the Multithreader and Epsilon tuner. "Dimension Barrier?" Vespers dead eye twitched. "Yeah. I made this for you, but this can also be used against you." This card could also seal XYZ and Fusion monsters. When Dom first created it with UNO's printer, he did not think it would be used on Synchro monsters first. "Now it's no time to slow down!" Dom ordered more attacks. The first Shadowmaker killed off the remaining Zeta Lord. Trapeze Magician came for the reborn Delta. "Initiate PSY-Frame Circuits second effect!" However Vesper could still could empower her monsters. "PSY-Frame Driver." She discarded the Frame driver, adding its 2500 attackpoints to the Epsilon(4000/0) on the field. It fired back and destroyed Trapeze Magician with its psychic lightning.

Doms LP: 2700

"Oh you'll wish you hadn't." But when Trapeze Magician died, it could special summon a Performage from the main deck. "Presto! Performage Mirror Conductor!" Dom called out the mirror-faced mage(4/600/1400), whose effect could be used instantly. "During either turn, he damages me a little but that is so he can switch the attack and defense points of a monster on the field!" The Conductor waved his baton to flip Epsilon around. "What." It(0/2700) had no use for its powers now. "Here!" The remaining Shadowmaker Performages attacked and destroyed the powerless Framegear along with Multi-Threader. "Your mistake was trying to be clever, Vesper!" Engraver of the Mark(4/1800/1200) and Performage Mirror Conductor finally attacked Vesper directly. "So, last time was 700 damage. I wonder how much you're gonna tell me when I take everything else?!" Vesper had nothing left, not lifepoints nor excuses.

Doms LP: 2200 Vespers LP: 0

"... You want answers, creator?" The woman cackled as she slowly moved her hand towards the console on her chair. She retracted the dueldisk and pulled out a keyboard. "You will get to see it all with your own eyes." She pushed several keys. "...No! Mister Dom, get away from her!" Alice was the first to realize something was up. But it was already far too late. "Wha.." The platform he stood on lit up and an energy barrier was put up to separate him and Vesper from the rest of the chamber. "Sir! Vesper, what are you doing?" Iria shouted at her. "Giving him what he wants. Cassius has told you about how we experimented with physical transportation, didn't he?" The lady said with a malicious grin. "!" Dom turned his head up and saw a bright light of unrecognizable colors stream down. "The other world.."

"My allies will capture yours, they will take whatever can stop my powers, and they will become part of the Circle. As for us, my mind will retreat to the other side. Where you will end up I do not know..." Vesper said, as her head fell backwards. Her mind had left the body. "Stop!" Iria yelled again, to no avail. She pushed against the barrier, to no avail. It could not be stopped. All the master could say was one word. "Iria.." And then the light reached its maximum intensity, swallowing the Master up. "DOM!" Iria now screamed as her master disappeared before her eyes. In those last few seconds they all got a glimpse of his blackhaired face and the look of despair it carried. He was younger than Uno had thought. The only thing the light left behind was his mask, which shattered as it fell to the floor. The barrier dropped now that Doms fate had been sealed. "I... can't believe..she did that." Uno had no words for this act that had gone beyond petty revenge. "He's just gone... ." Alice shook her head. This whole day seemed like a nightmare.

Team Uno/Iria's LP: 8000 Team Synchro's LP: 8000

"Lady Vesper!" Gareth was only paying attention to the woman slumped back in her chair. "Disciple, don't you turn your back on me!" Vesper was not with them anymore. He had been unable to help her, he and his friends were still entangled in duels against Iria and Uno. "Get them!" He shouted at his dueling partners who currently had their turn. "Yeah!" They both had summoned Frozen Fitzgerald(5/2500/2500) synchro monsters with their Infernity monsters. "Attack the disciple!" Iria had no monsters on her field, and traps and spells could not be activated when a Frozen Fitzgerald monster attacked. But Uno had a better defense. "Hold it!" Uno controlled both Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000) and two pendulum magicians; Xiangke and Xiangsheng. He sent the latter out to intercept the direct attack, per battle royal rules. "Performapal Raingoat, save Odd-Eyes!" By discarding the raincoat goat from his hand, he prevented the destruction of his monster. So while they both had equal attackpoints, only the Frozen pillar demon was killed.

"Fool! Frozen Fitzgerald can always special summon himself if he is destroyed!" The Circle-duelist discarded a card from his hand to activate his synchro monsters effect. Frozen Fitzgerald special summoned itself back in defense mode. "You think you can just barge in here and undo all we worked for? Your master payed the price for his arrogance, now you will follow.. Do you even have any idea of what you have done!?" The duelist ended their turn, their anger at Lady Vespers fate was self-evident. "Do you!?" But that feeling was like nothing compared to Iria's. "You took the master away, you.." She would crush them all if she could, but it was not her move to make. "Uno. This stops now." It was Uno's turn. "I couldn't agree more." Uno drew his next card. "Performapal Trump Girl!" He summoned a tiny jester girl with stars and ace symbols all over her colorful outfit. "Trump Girl, fuse yourself with Odd-Eyes!" The Trump Girl had the power to fuse herself with any monster, without the need for Polymerization. And she was a spellcaster monster. "I combine a spellcaster and Odd-Eyes to fusion summon Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Uno changed his odd-eyed dragon into the runic dragon(8/3000/2000) with the golden eyepatch.

"Rune-Eyes? The monster that defeated Meridian?" The two duelists looked a little worried once they saw what they were up against. "Don't waver! Rune-Eyes can only attack twice this turn! You have a total of three cards in your hand. He will not get a direct attack off." Gareth had studied Uno's deck enough to realize that Rune-Eyes full potential was only unlocked if a level 5 or higher spellcaster had been fused with it. Trump Girl was a measly level 2 monster. "You guys think you have all the answers. Well what do you think of this?!" Uno tapped both his pendulum cards. "Xiangke and Xiangsheng Magician, I use you both to pendulum summon Odd-Eyes from the extra deck and two Performapals from my hand!" The original Odd-Eyes rejoined the battle, while Performapals Camelump(4/800/2000) and Bowhopper(4/1500/1000) were the new arrivals. "I will XYZ-Summon Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!" The grasshopper and camel overlayed into one dark portal so that the black dragon(4/2500/2000) of revolution took form.

"I know what you are going to say. So I'll save you the trouble.. this is not what I was building up to." Uno activated the spell effects of Xiangke and Xiangsheng. "This is! Xiangke targets my XYZ-monster and changes its rank into a level that can be used for XYZ-summoning!" The Rebellion Dragons black rank stars were inverted into red level stars by the male destruction mage. "Then Xiangsheng can raise the rank of the XYZ-monster to that of a level 5 or higher monsters level on my field!" The female creation mage shot shot her arrows through Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Dark-Rebellion XYZ Dragon(7/2500/2000). "So that means.." Gareth's eyes went wide. "This is it!" Alice remembered this sequence vividly. "The monster that you brought back?" Iria would witness it for the first time. "I overlay Odd-Eyes with Dark Rebellion and XYZ-summon Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon!" The room pulsed with power as the red and black dragon turned to pure force and opened a path the destructive and dark pendulum dragon(7/3000/2500).

"Wha.." This was more terrifying than anything they had seen Uno use before. "Odd-Eyes Rebellion destroys all level 7 or lower monsters on the field, if he was XYZ-summoned with an XYZ-monster as a material!" The dragonwings blades disconnected and the energy flowed through them. Raw electricity surged across the field and both synchro monsters. "Both duelists take 1000 points of damage for each destroyed monster!" The Frozen Fitzgeralds exploded. Their masters were thrown into the cloud of smoke, real smoke. "Kguh.. He's using solid vision!" They had to wipe the smoke away with their own hands, it was not an effect of the dueldisk. "Cheap tricks.. That's just something that UNO guy made for you." The two opponents werent't going to give up just to that. They both discarded a card from their hand to resummon Frozen Fitzgerald to the field in defense mode.

Team Synchro's LP: 6000

"Nope. This is something I made myself." Uno pointed three fingers to the ceiling. "That was part one of the Odd-Eyes Rebellion show. Part two.. lets him attack three times if he destroyed a monster this turn!" His other hand he pointed forward, with two fingers aimed at the defending synchro monsters. "Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The Fusion-dragon used its two attacks to defeat the Fitzgeralds in battle. "Guh.." Only one of them could be special summoned from the graveyard this time. The other duelists was out of cards in his hand. "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon!" Then came the triple strike from the XYZ-dragon. It spread its wings and came after the enemy like a bird of death. With its teeth it tore the last Frozen Fitzgerald into pieces. With its left wing it directly attacked the left duelist. The right wing took down the left duelist. "Gwaaahh!" They were both thrown off the field and smacked hard into the wall before falling back down. "Uh..ahhh.." Only Gareth was left standing. The others faded from consciousness.

Team Synchro's LP: 0

"Sir!" As Gareth had not officially started a duel yet, Iria was now free to run back to where her master had last been seen. "Wake up! Wake up!" First she tried to get Vesper to answer to her. When that didn't lead to anything she instead went to work on Vespers equipment. "This has to work. This is what caused the transport." She tried to repeat the sequence of buttons that she had seen the woman press, then other sequences, then other consoles. Nothing changed. "Iria..." While Uno watched her, he also kept his eyes on Gareth. "How can you be so strong? You are just one duelist, you are not part of any guild." Fusion-monsters, Synchro monsters and XYZ-monsters; The Circle had seen Uno summon all of them. "He _is_ part of a guild. With me." Alice stood by his side now. "Uno.. I'm so sorry that I didn't come to help you." Though she had her own dueldisk, she did not join in their duel earlier. "Not that I didn't want.. but.. If I had.. Maybe Dom would still be here.."

"Hey. This is nobody's fault but theirs. And they can undo it too." Uno reshuffled his cards. If Gareth wanted a personal fight, he could come and get it. "Y-yeah." Alice seemed more determined to duel alongside him too now. "Oddball Guild, ha!Are you you seeing yourselves some great uniter, is that why you take something from all of us? The synchro guild will never work with other guilds, not even independents." He switched the transmitter on his dueldisk back on. "Cassius. Send in the reinforcements. All of them. Dom has been eliminated, we.." He stopped halfway, when he noticed that he was picking up a lot of static. "Cassius?" The channel was dead. No amount of finetuning cleared it up. "What is going on?" Gareth switched to other dueldisks. While he heard some sounds this time, they were not encouraging. "No!" There were explosions, roars and shots; like a war had broken out up above. "We're being raided!"

"That is correct." The duelists had company. "Adamant!" The former XYZ-leader emerged from the elevator shaft. "You! You did this, you started this invasion!" Gareth took no time to lay out the accusations. "I am no longer in control of my people, synchro-guild. I did not contact them to tell them about my whereabouts. And I doubt they came for me." He briefly turned towards the others, towards Alice in particular. "You are still well. That is good." He spoke with apparent sincerity. "... Is the noise above, what you were warn me about?" Alice asked. "Yes. This is phase four of our attack plan. The generators create a shield of energy that keeps almost everything solid trapped inside. We were saving them for when our forces headed into the other world, to help defeat the enemy. But they were instead planted here in each conquestzones, so that together they could cast a net wide enough to trap the entire land, from border to border."

"What? We're all stuck here now?" Uno gasped. "Was your goal to control the entire country? And shouldn't you be up there with them?" Iria said, verbally and fiercely attacking him. "No. This plan has Roma's touch, not mine. I do not know what he is aiming at." Adamant was as truthful as he ever would be. He walked over to Vespers chair. "Stop!" Gareth yelled. "So this is the face of the enemy." He bowed to stare her in her blank eyes. "While we were preparing to go to war with her world, she was infiltrating ours." Disdain was carved into his face. the true nature of the synchro guild was there for all to see. "If you touch her!" Gareth placed his hand on his dueldisk. "I have no interest in this woman, I can tell that her mind is far gone. If you desire to fight me, I will not stop you. But you and I would be fighting for a doll. I believe your people need you more up above." As Adamant told him this, the noise of the ongoing duels got loud enough to echo down the shaft. "I think you will find that your guild is outnumbered. It is not just the fury of the XYZ-guild that you have incurred. The Fusion Guild is there as well."

"Wh-what? No!" Gareth's will was finally broken by this news. He turned away and hurriedly climbed back up the ladder. "Was any of that true?" Iria inquired. "All of it. They are both here to crush this third wheel once and for all." Adamant took a deep breath. "But that is no longer my concern. I will assist you, until I feel my debt is repayed.. I would not be walking freely, were it not for you." They had opened all the doors after all. "I don't think that was more than a side-effect though." Uno claimed. The power shutdown was only meant to rescue him and his friends. "I respect your honesty, Oddball Guild. But incidental or not, I owe you my freedom."

(To be Continued in Annex 083: Die Kunst der Fuge)

 **New Cards used by Dom  
** Dimension Barrier

 **New Cards used by Vesper  
** PSY-Framegear Epsilon

-  
PSY-Frame Accelerator

 **New Card used by Uno**  
Performapal Trump Girl

 **New Cards used by Synchro Duelists  
** Frozen Fitzgerald


	83. Die Kunst der Fuge

**Annex 083: Die Kunst der Fuge**

"Come on, Iria. We have to get moving!" Uno shouted as he checked the elevator shaft. Gareth was out of sight, it was their turn to go. "I need more time!" The disciple was still at Vespers chair, accessing it with her dueldisk. "The oddball is correct, disciple. The longer we wait, the more likely it is that the other guilds will find this place." Adamant had no desire to stay. This room had only one exit, and they would be cornered if duelists came down here. "I am well aware of that. But I have to try." Even if trying basically meant downloading random data from Vespers console. "I am done." Iria retracted her dueldisk. "... We're just going to leave her there?" Alice hesitated, she could not tear her eyes away from the comatose woman. "We are. She did that to herself." Iria had no pity to give, she stormed out of the chamber. "...O-kay."

The climb back up the ladder was long and restrained. Nobody said a word until the exit was within sight, when Alice made a delicate attempt. "Ms Silver. Dom is okay, I'm sure." She did not want to upset her further, but she also did not like this uncomfortable atmosphere that followed them. "That's right. If he's in the other timeline, we will find him." " Uno had his own words to raise her spirit. Not that he usually affected that demeanor of hers. "How would you find him.. You cannot go there.." Iria retorted and stopped in front of the elevator hatch. "But people have done it before, so maybe we can do it too?" Alice was still spoke humbly. This time though, something in Iria snapped. "What would you two know about it?!" She yelled. "Do you believe you can wave your crystal around to fix everything? Do you think you can make me happy with fairytales? Dom could be dead already!"

"...I.." Iria breathed heavily and cast her head down. "I apologize... That was inappropriate behavior. I... am not used to situations like these." She opened the hatch and got inside the elevator. The others were soon with her. "Is that because this is the first time.. you are not with him..and he is not with you?" Uno asked. "Dom was.. is.. a genius. He ran Dreamworld from a very young age. He made sure to leave detailed instructions for his staff.. In case something ever were to happen to him." If she were to speak openly, she would say that Dom hardly ran the company anyway. That's what he had assistants, directors and disciples for. "That does not make what I feel.. any easier. Nor will it make it easier for him." Another thing she would not admit in the open was that she saw Dom as more than a boss. Though that was something the three around her had already gathered from the way she was acting.

"It can be done.." Once they were all finally on a solid floor again, Adamant opened his mouth. "What!?" Iria shuddered. "What I wanted to say before was that my guild has experimented with dimensional travel as well, just like Cassius. I know that it is possible." As he talked he glanced around the corner of the elevator doors. "Why are you telling us this?" Iria was still skeptical, largely because it was him saying it. Adamants answer only came after a pause. "Because our common enemy cannot hear us now... The coast is clear." He stepped outside. "..Very clear." Uno took a look himself. He did not spot a single soul. "Where did everyone go?" Alice did not understand. The upper floor had been filled with people just a second ago. "Cassius and his followers must still be controlling the lower levels. This is where the fighting took place.." Iria saw evidence of solid-vision duels on the wall; blast marks and deep cuts. "Eric and Zach were on this floor." Uno did not like what he was seeing and not seeing. All around were empty hallways and discarded cards; fusion, synchro and XYZ-monsters. "All three guilds were here, duking it out? Is it over now?"

"Over? No." A man shuffled down the main hallway. "Gareth?" It was the duelist who ran away from them not less than ten minutes ago. "Where has he been?" Iria's dueldisk had failed to warn them about his approach, as if his dueldisk was not with him. "Nobody wins.." Yet Gareth had his dueldisk and his cards. "Gareth, what are you.."

Gareths LP: 8000

"No." He started a turn and summoned a monster, Jutte Knight(2/700/900) the edo-era policeman tuner. "He's challenging us?" Iria cried out of exasperation. "Boost Warrior." Gareth payed her no mind and special summoned his second monster. The rocket-powered fire warrior(1/300/200) could be summoned when a duelist already controlled a warrior-monster. "Synchro-summon." The Knight and Warrior were used as materials for a level 3 synchro monster. "Goyo Defender." The duelist called upon another officer from the Goyo-series, this one was a pint-sized riot cop(3/1000/1000). "We do not have time for this, Gareth! I thought you got that!" Uno growled. They did not have to accept his duel, they could take one of the other halls. "No." But Gareth activated the effect of Goyo Defender. "There is." Goyo Defender could special summon a second Goyo Defender(3/1000/1000) from the extra deck, if the player only controlled earth-type synchro monsters. "No way Out." The second Goyo Defender used its power to summon a third Goyo Defender(3/1000/1000). Each of the Defenders blocked one of three paths. They were pinned down, literally. "Hey..these are real." When Alice tried to push her way through the holograms, she met with resistance. The Defenders shields were as solid as real metal. "Solid-vision? Has the Synchro Guild given in to using that power after all?" Adamant grunted. If he had his own deck, this would not be a problem. But his cards were still confiscated.

"Leave this to me!" Their rescuer came from an unexpected corner, also literally. "Creffield?" Iria had never said that name with that such delight before. The other disciple rushed down the left pathway, with his cards at the ready. "Sing the first verse, Melodious Songstress Solo! Back her up, Melodious Diva Sonata! Cap it off, Melodious Songstress Soprano!" Zach controlled no monsters at first, so he could special summon the Songstress in the red dress(4/1600/1000). Once he controlled a Melodious monster, he could special summon the diva(3/1700/1500) with the green harp-wings and the attack/defense boosts from his hand. Then it was easy enough to normal summon the redhaired singer(4/1900/1900). "I declare my attack!" Solo(2100/1500) started off the symphony, unloading a powerful yet musical cry from her throat. "No." However Gareth countered with the effect of Goyo Defender. The Defenders could raise their attackpoints by 1000 for each other earth-type synchro monster on the field. As there were three Defenders, the attacked Goyo(3000/1000)'s increased the size of his shield twice and slammed Solo flat against the wall.

Zach's LP: 7100

"Creffield. What are you doing? I am coming over there!" Iria shouted and grabbed her deck. "This is under control, Silver!" Zach swore with his confident smile. "Solo, you played your part. Now I will bring in Shopina!" The death of Solo allowed Zach to special summon a leading Melodious from his deck; the Maestra Shopina(7/2800/1700). "The next song will begin with Flash Fusion!" The disciple activated the quickplay fusion spell from his hand. It fused all three of his Melodious monsters. "Shopina, Solo, Sonata! Together, you will sing the song that UNO wrote for you, the song of Bloom Prima!" The trio formed the pale angel(7/1900/2000) in the blooming yellow dress. "Give the Defenders your power, Bloom Prima!" The Melodious Choir(2800/2000) gained 300 attackpoints for each of her fusion materials. She and the spirits of her three fusion materials all released their attack as one harmonious dirge. "No." Gareth had the same answer as before. Goyo Defender(3000/1000) raised his attackpoints by 1000 by drawing power from its comrades.

"We went through that routine already, Gareth!" Zach discarded a card from his hand. "It is time for something else! I activate Honest! My singer of the light-atttribute will gain the power you carry!" Honest targeted Bloom Prima to add Goyo Defenders current attackpoints to the attacking fusion monster(5800/2000). "...No." Gareth stood there and took 2800 points of battle damage, while his first synchro monster was overwhelmed by Bloom Prima. "One path is clear!" The Melodious Choir could attack twice in one turn, so it shared its song of four voices with the second Goyo Defender. This one(2000/1000) had less attackpoints to take from its brothers, so it died even quicker and delivered 3800 points of damage to Gareth. "N...No." He only had on defender left, one pathway to guard. "The coup de grace, Defusion!" With the other quickplay spell from his hand activated, Zach unfused Bloom Prima and returned her fusion materials to the field. "The last song!" Sonata sang and destroyed the final Goyo Defender. Shopina then finished off what remained of Gareths lifepoints with a devastating blast of music and sound. "NO!" With his last point of life removed, Gareth's eyes rolled back into his head and his body dropped to the ground.

Gareth's LP: 0

"Silver! Guys! ...Adamant?" With Gareth out of the way, Zach could finally get a good look at his friends. He did not expect the XYZ-duelist to be one of them. "Your attack was impressive, disciple." Adamant could appreciate a rapid take-down. "Zach, what happened up here? Gareth was not exactly acting.. like a normal person." Uno had no idea what changed the synchro-duelist into that zombie-like state that only allowed him to yell single words. "It was not a pretty sight. First everyone 'resynchronized'. Then the XYZ-guild stormed the castle. Jet and the others scattered everywhere, leaving me to fend for myself. And all that chaos turned frighteningly still." Zach knelt down before Gareth. "This is Martels doing; turning innocent men and women into his slaves through a method that is either technological or psychological. He must be here."

"Mister Zach.. Did you see Eric or Emily anywhere? Do you think.." Not knowing what had happened to her friend and her sister had been nerve-wracking for Alice. And now there was this creepy man walking around? "I am affraid I did not see Eric. As far as Emily is concerned, she must still be one floor below with Cassius. I am not receiving any signals from her wire anymore. I do not think he would harm her." Zach tried to be as optimistic as possible. "..I don't think so either. Aaron was.. used to be nice.." Alice was not sure what she could still believe in; except Cassius felt he was doing the right thing. "Alice, I doubt Eric ran into trouble. He was the one who told us about Martel, so he knows to avoid him. And Martels previous victims recovered, no worse for wear. Gareth should recover too."

"Creffield.. Zach. I need to tell you something." Iria stepped forward. "Iria? ...Is this about Dom?" It finally dawned on the disciple that his master was not part of the group anymore. "It was the woman below, Vesper. Dom challenged her to a duel. He was leading when she.. as a last act of defiance.." Iria had difficulty communicating the story. "He was banished from time, sent away by the woman." Adamant did it for her. "He..what?" Zach took it hard. He lost his balance and had to lean against the wall. "Is he..where did she send him?" He could not imagine a world where there was no Dom. There had to be something they could do. "The other timeline, possibly. Vesper didn't know, she didn't give any coordinates. I tried to reverse the process.. He could be anywhere." Iria did not have much hope to give him. "The other timeline? The one that Uno went to? Then, can we not do the same?" Zach looked to Uno for answers now. "I know what you're thinking. I have been thinking the same. But I don't know how yet. The last time I 'crossed over', it was an accident."

"Crossed over?" Adamant began to mentally connect some dots. "You traveled to the other timeline as well?! Are you one from this world or theirs?" The former champion had always been under the assumption that He had the full story. Yet he didn't understand any of this. "From theirs. Surprised?" Uno pulled out his crystal. "This is what took me here and there, the pendulum." Adamant observed the jewel with a glint in his eyes. "I knew there was something unique about you, Oddball Guild." He smirked. "Uno, is it a good idea to inform him?" Iria was wary about giving Adamant more than was required. "I think we can trust him." Uno said as he put the pendulum back under his shirt. "What do you base that on? He.." She started to say but was interrupted halfway by the other disciple. "We will have to cut this meeting shot, Iria. There's more of Martels friends coming down." A couple of sleepwalking duelists shuffled along two of the three corridors. "You should take off. I can settle affairs with these fellas."

"We can't leave, what about Eric.. and Emily.. and you? Where will we go?!" Alice protested. Once again everyone was talking about separation. "We could make a run for the helicopter, if the guilds have not already confiscated it." First they'd need to open the gates though. "But Creffield, Dreamworld needs you too. Now more than ever." As expected Iria disagreed with Zachary's approach to this problem. Only this time it was for more than professional reasons. "Iria, we both know that you did more for the company than me. I was just a manager. Please, let me at least make sure one of us gets far away from here." Of course, Zach still had his charismatic side in his favor. It was hard for her to argue against him. "Alice. I will stay here, and I will not rest until I have found Eric and your sister. But someone like you shouldn't be trapped in a mad world like this. Go with them, okay?" His words worked on the younger one as well. "Is that a promise?" She stared at him. He nodded back at her. "It is" Zach turned around and activated his dueldisk. "Good luck, Zach." Uno and the others headed into the open path while Zach remained with the entranced duelists; one XYZ-duelist and one Synchro-duelist. "Alright, who asked for an encore?"

...

As the remaining duelists ventured into the castle area, Uno put a few questions in Adamants way. "Adamant. What was your plan anyway? Why couldn't you just ask for Doms help, for the entire country to help?" The former XYZ-duelist had not discussed the subject yet. Uno thought it was time to do so. "This currently was not _my_ plan. I already said I have no control anymore. Roma must be trying to secure this world first. With the barrier he can make any demands he wants." The fact that they made an open assault soon after the barrier was raised, was no coincidence. " _My_ Plan would have been to extract the secrets that Dom hid, and use them right away. The XYZ-Guild has some contacts within the army, financial and military. But so do the other guilds. And we did not want to go public and cause worldwide chaos and despair." Adamant could never guarantee that his plans could save his world. "And what did you want from Dom anyway?" Iria would like to know what secret of Dom could possibly surprise her with. "Cards.. special cards. I am sure you have heard this before, but the game is older than dreamworld or the novels of The First Duelist. There are higher powers at play, powers I wanted to honor. Until.." He glared at Alice. "Huh?"

"...Hold." Adamant abruptly raised his arm. "This area is not clear." They stopped at the edge of the castle courtyard. Beyond were a hundred XYZ-duelists, all camped out around the gate which had been smashed to pieces. "Damn them. Our transportation is beyond." Iria whispered. The helicopter they needed to fly out of here was parked outside the walls. They would definitely be noticed if they tried to reach it. "Maybe we can steal one of your helicopters?" Uno caught the sight of a few bigger black-painted models on one of the castle towers. "..It would be a change, but I might manage piloting one." Iria had no qualms about stealing something that belonged to these people. "That might not be necessary." Adamant stated, without elaborating why. "Not? What did you have in mind?"

Uno soon wished he had not asked that, as he got more than he bargained for. "Oh goodness. Look what the cat dragged in." First Ichirou snuck up on them from behind. "Aah!" Then a dozen or so XYZ-duelists advanced on them from the front to block them. "Ichirou.." Adamant muttered. "Welcome back, former champion. The cat in this story is you of course. Are these three your way of repaying the guild for your failures? If so.. well done."

...

"Bloom Diva!" Zach launched his final attack against the duelists, letting the fusion melodious fusion fairy(6/1000/2000) fight off the Super Dreadnought Railcannon Gustav Max(10/3000/3000). The former countered its own destruction and damage by destroying the Railcannon instead, while inflicting damage equal to the difference between their attackpoints. "Ghh.." Softly the opponents went down. Their consciousness disappearing along with their lifepoints _. "Hff.. Ha.. I thought that would never end."_ Taking three duels in a row, along with duels he had to endure to even get to this point, was starting to take its toll _. "Father would tell me to get a grip if he was here. Iria would probably be the same.."_ He was tired, he just wanted to rest. He knew he couldn't. He had made a promise to a fellow duelist, and to a workpartner. They mattered more than family now. Zach got on his feet, he had someone to find before someone else found him.

Too late..

"My dolls." It was him, the same hooded figure from the museum. "You keep taking them." He walked out of the shadows of another room, taking Zach by surprise. "Martel!" How long had he been standing there? Had he been watching the last few matches? "I liked them. Now they're different, spoiled. Because of you. I know you." Martel pulled his hood back, revealing himself to be a young boy with sunken eyes and oily black hair. "My eye remembers you. You were there the last time, playing with us." Martel chuckled. "What do you want?" Zach inquired as he scanned his surroundings. He could run away if he wanted too. He doubted Martel would let him. "A replacement." His hands crawled up along the clothed object that he carried in his arms. "I haven't had a fusion duelist in a while." Martel pulled the cloth back to reveal what he had been holding all this time; a hollow-eyed blue doll with a ribbon tied to its neck. "?" It vaguely resembled a Gemknight Lapis Lazuli card, but it was a different monster. "The Shadows want to play.."

(To be Continued in Annex 084: Veni, Vidi, Vici)

 **New Cards used by Zach Creffield  
** Bloom Prima the Melodious Choir

-  
Defusion

 **Cards used by Gareth  
** Jutte Fighter  
Boost Warrior

-  
Goyo Defender


	84. Veni Vidi Vici

**Annex 084: Veni Vidi Vici**

"Uhh..where.." Emily woke up on a soft bed, inside what looked like a large bunker. "You're in the private suite. One of the safest rooms inside the castle." Cassius' voice came in through an intercom hidden in the walls. "Cassius? What the hell is this for?" Emily rose instantly. "For your own good, Emily. The XYZ-Guild and Fusion Guild have started their attack. You're not a prisoner, but it's best for you to stay inside." He assured her. "Well it looks like a prison to me! What about the others? Where's my sister?" She started yelling in every direction. "We'll rescue them in time. Then we can restart the process." He answered calmly. "That's not what I was asking about! Damn it Cassius, you have to let me help them!" Emily looked around. She did not have her dueldisk anymore. All she had was her clothes and her cards. "I cannot do that, Emily. I wont put you at risk. Just stay calm. There is food and water to keep everyone going for months. If the worst comes of it.. Just..stay put." Cassius terminated the call. "No! Cassius! Come back!" She started pounding the metal door. "Let me out!"

...

"You betrayed us! You led us to them!" Iria immediately pointed fingers at Adamant when the XYZ-guild swarmed and surrounded them. "No. That's not true, is it!?" Alice did not want to believe it, in spite of all the overwhelming evidence and Adamants damning silence. "Hey. You can do what you want with me, but let Alice go! She has done nothing to any of you!" Uno struggled as he was grabbed by several soldiers. "On the contrary, she has done quite a great deal of harm to our plans." Ichirou approached Uno, getting right up in his face. "And so have you. You two are going to stay with us for a little while. And.." His hand delved into Uno's dec, taking several cards out. "We will be taking _this_ one." It was Uno's set of Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragons, one of which was the _real_ one. "You may have fooled the Fusion guild, but we know what we are looking for." Ichirou scanned all three and placed one of them inside his own dueldisk and locked it up. "Are you still after the decryption keys? Do you really believe Dom has the cards you need?" Iria still could not imagine such power hiding within Dreamworld. "Oh. Has Adamant been telling you things?" Ichirou snickered as he tossed the two other copies back at Uno's feet.

"Well, I forgive you. Come Adamant, Roma will be pleased to see you." Ichirou and his troops guided the four into the heart of the XYZ-encampment. There, in the biggest tent, was Roma himself. "What is this supposed to be?" He greeted this display with mild apprehension. "It appears Adamant did us a favor and lead the rogue duelists to us. We have one of the three keycards." Ichirou happily explained. "Interesting. Is this true, Adamant?" Roma eyed the former leader carefully. "...What is _our_ status." Adamant responded dutifully. "I knew it." Iria cursed under her bearth "No.." Alice whimpered. "How.." Uno could not even make sense of this. "Oh, we are holding our ground. Those synchro-duelist rats are holed up underneath, and we can't get through. The fusion guild is keeping their hands clean, sending in occasional attackers. They're trying to claim terrain, but they wont succeed. In due time we will have this entire place conquered. And it all thanks to your original design, Adamant." Roma said wryly.

At that moment another explosion sounded in the distance. "Oh, there they go again." Ichirou sighed. The fusion guild was challenging their outer guards again. "Squad B will handle this." Roma gave the command to a section of duelists on the left. "No. You shouldn't hold back, Roma." Subito countermanded the order. "Send as many as you can spare. I have seen what the fusion guild is willing to do. They have to be crushed." Roma looked at his 'subordinate' with a slight scowl on his face, but then turned his expression into a smirk. "Heh. I am in a good mood. Very well." Roma ordered half of his men to march out through the gate. "Ugh. Are you really going to do this, Adamant?. All this fighting is pointless!" Uno yelled. "Do your men even know what you are fighting against? Did you tell them who the enemy is? Do they know that you expect them to wage war on an entirely new world, and why?" The reward for his outburst was a grazing laser shot from one a monster that a soldier near him had summoned and solidified. "Shut up. Don't talk nonsense!"

So the fighting continued. They could not see what was happening beyond the walls, only the sentries on the battlements could. Most of Roma's troops had their ears tuned to the sound of the duels. Adamant in the mean time had his senses focused on the three prisoners. "What is the next part of your plan, Adamant?" Iria questioned him with venom and spite. "Regeneratio ... Soldier, give me my tools." Adamant ignored her and got one of his men to give him a replacement raidraptor deck and dueldisk. "...Huh?" Alice caught him glancing at her as he inserted the cards into his new disk. Then Adamant walked towards Roma. "Ah. Just as you were before, eh Adamant? For once I can say I glad to have you. The ones responsible for abandoning you will be reprimanded in time, of course." Roma said with his self-satisfied demeanor. "That will not be necessary. I only ask one thing." Adamant placed both feet down in front of the new leader. "That is?"

"A Duel!" Adamant turned his dueldisk on and drew five cards. "A Duel? With you? Adamant, have you lost your mind?" His selected opponent was Roma himself.

Adamants LP: 8000 Roma's LP: 8000

"I invoke the fifth law to challenge your leadership, Roma!" Adamant shouted loud enough so that every soldier could hear him. Though they rose to defend their leader, they had to back off because of Adamants words. With less duelists around, it was easier for Adamant to stay near his target. "The fifth law? That does not apply to you! You lost your spot in the ranks long ago!" Roma opposed his argument. " _Actually._. He has the right. Though he has lost two duels, you also lost one. And he has gained more victories since then." Ichirou on the other hand had the records at his disposal and was not shy about pointing them out. "Ichirou. Whose side are you on?" Roma growled. "On the side of the guild, of course. I am not going to stop this." Ichirou walked away from the two. "Tch. My plan has already been set in motion, Adamant. Our demands are sent, you cannot undo what we have done." The leader refused to draw his cards. "Right now all I see is a man who fears me. The future can wait. This is happening now, Roma."

"... So be it." The leader spat and took five cards from his deck. "The rest of you, do not interfere. And make sure our prisoners do not escape." He glared at Uno and Iria before starting his turn properly. "Tch. So all of this was just to get back control of his guild." Iria had no interest in watching anyway. "By the rules of the Law; the current leader gets the first turn. I normal summon Super Quantum Blue Layer." It was the blue quantum pilot(3/1200/2000) who would begin the battle. "By her effect, one Super Quant-card will be taken from my deck. I choose Super Quantal Fairy Alphan." Roma added the new monster card to his hand. "I set one card in the spell/trap zone. That was it. What is your answer, Adamant."

"It is.. Raidraptor Tribute Lanius!" Adamant wasted no time in bringing out his first monster, the blue machine-bird(4/1800/400) of thunder. "Send Mimicry Lanius!" With the first effect of Tribute Lanius a Raidraptor was sent from the deck to the graveyard. "Add Raidraptor Readiness." With the effect of Mimicry Lanius, a new Raidraptor card was pulled from the deck and placed into his hand. The surrounding XYZ-duelists commented on how Adamant was using his favorite moves. The battle phase was similarly straightforward. Tribute Lanius' wings fired off their feather segments and blasted Super Quantum Blue Layer with lasers. Successfully destroying an opponents monster triggered the Raidraptors second effect; the player could claim any quick-play Rank-Up-Magic spell in his deck. "Rank-Up-Magic: Revolution Force." Adamant took a spell that few had seen in action, including Alice. "Revolution?" Once the second main phase came, Adamant placed that card face-down on the field. Another trap was set down beside it. "End turn."

Roma's LP: 7400

"Revolution Force, the best weapon against another XYZ-duelist. You want to take my XYZ-monsters as well as my rank, don't you?" With that face-down spell, Adamant could rank-up XYZ-monsters the opponent controllled into one of his Raidraptors. "But I know Revolution Force cannot target XYZ-monsters if they still have their XYZ-materials. Do not forget that I studied under you. I know every trick in your handbook!" Roma drew his next card. "I control no monsters, so I may special summon Super Quantum Red Layer from my hand!" The red-suited pilot(5/2000/800) jumped in from a ring of fire. "I will take back my Blue Layer now." When Quantum Red was summoned, another Super Quant could leave the graveyard and return to the duelist hand. "Now I normal summon Summoner Monk and I will use his power to summon Super Quantum Green Layer from my deck!" The priest of summoning(4/800/1600) could special summon any level 4 monster at the cost of one spell. Roma discarded an XYZ-Unit spell card to bring forth the Green Quantum pilot(4/1600/1400). "And I shall summon Super Quantal Fairy Alphan!" Green Layers effect special summoned a Super Quant-monster from the hand, the quantums white-colored mascot animal(1/0/0).

"Let me show you what I learned about XYZ-summoning, Adamant." Roma targeted Green Layer and Summoner Monk. "The earlier you do it, the better.. I XYZ-summon Super Quantal Mech Beast Aeroboros!" The wind pilot and summon priest were overlayed to construct the mechanical winged beast of the sky(4/2200/2400). "And the more often you can do it, the better! I activate Alphans effect! It targets another Super Quant to share its level among all other Super Quant monsters!" The fairy critter jumped on top of Quantum Red Layer and copied its five stars. Now it(5/0/0) could be overlayed along with the red pilot for a rank 5 XYZ-card. "I XYZ-summon Super Quantal Mech Beast Magnaliger!" The warrior of fire and the mascot of light combined to construct the mecha-lion of flames(5/2600/2000). "Both their effects will be used against your Raidraptor! Green!" Roma detached Green Layer from Aeroboros. The green Mech Beast flipped Tribute Lanius face-down. "And Red!" The red Mech Beast used up its Red Layer material to destroy the face-down Lanius.

"Of course. Against someone like you, two XYZ-monsters will not be enough." The effects of the Quantum Layers were activated after they went into the graveyard. The detached Quantum Green discarded Super Quantum Blue from Roma's hand to draw a new card. The detached Quantum Red special summoned that Super Quantum Blue(3/1200/2000) from the graveyard. "Emergency Teleport! I special summon another Blue Layer!" With his face-down quickplay spell card, Roma summoned a level 3 psychic monster; another Pilot(3/1200/2000) dressed in blue. "I take the Super Quantal field spell card from my deck." A Quantum spell was the card that Blue Layer gave her owner this time. "Now everything is in its proper place. I XYZ-summon Super Quantal Mech Beast Grampulse!" The two Blue Quantums overlayed with each other to create their vessel, the deepsea shark twin submarine(3/1800/2800). "And your Revolution ends before it begins! Grampulse destroys your middle face-down card!" Roma nearly detached one card from his new XYZ-monster. "Trap card!" Yet Adamant chained his card to the summoning of Grampulse first. "Overlay Hurricane!"

 _Overlay Hurricane, Continuous Trap  
_ _Once per turn, during either players turn, you can target 1 Xyz Monster that has Xyz Material and 1 other Xyz Monster;  
Detach 1 Xyz Material from the first target and attach it to the second target._

"Whoa!" The guild gasped. "What?" Roma was likewise stunned. "Your materials, Red will move to Green." Overlay Hurricane's effect relocated an attached card from one XYZ-monster to the other. Aeroboros now had two materials, while Magnaliger had none. "And now, Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force! I take the XYZ-monster you control and evolve it to the next rank!" As it no longer had any materials, Magnaliger could be targeted by Revolution Force. The rank 5 Fire Mech Beast was absorbed by the spell and attached underneath a rank 6 XYZ-monster. "Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon!" Adamant XYZ-summoned his bird of rebellion and war, the Revolution Falcon(6/2000/3000). "Feh. You managed to bring it out." Roma knew this monster in an out. He had no means to destroy it. Revolution Falcon would just erase the attackpoints of his special summoned monsters. And with one of his Quantal XYZ-monsters now attached to Adamants monster, he could not use the effect of his field spell to create the Quantal King either. "End turn."

"Ha. Guess you made a mistake." Uno chuckled. Roma had assumed that Adamants face-down trap was Raidraptor Readiness, and that left him open for Adamants counter. "I told you to be quiet!" One other XYZ-duelist snarled at Uno. And Iria felt like agreeing with the duelist. "Are you cheering him on? Whoever wins, we lose." She whispered angrily. "Better him than Roma." Uno shrugged. He couldn't explain it, but he felt there was more to this than what Adamant was saying.

"Again." As soon as it was Adamants turn, he activated the effect of Overlay Hurricane to steal an XYZ-material from Aeroboros. He gave it to his own Raidraptor Revolution Falcon. "Hmph." In retaliation, Roma activated the effect of Grampulse to destroys Overlay Hurricane, while that XYZ-monster still had an XYZ-material. "Detach." Adamant detached one of the Falcons materials, enabling its multi-attack effect. Now it could bombard all of Roma's Q. "Raptors Ultimate Mace." To cap it off, Adamant equipped a spell card to the XYZ-monster(3000/3000). The mace added an additional 1000 attackpoints to its wielder. "Attack." And so Revolution Falcon waged its war against the Super Mech Beasts. The Quantals could not retaliate because their quick-effects became normal trigger effects if their perspective Layers were not attached to them. The Raidraptor released jetflames from its wings to sear away the attackpoints of Grampulse(0/2800) and Aeroboros(0/2400). Then it made a rapid pass to cut them down while they were weakened. "RGhh!" The flames and the heat shot past Roma.

Roma's LP: 1400

"Ngh.." Even though the others were standing far enough away, Alice still winced when she saw the pain Adamant was causing Roma. "Ahahah!" Yet the opponent took his loss remarkably well. "For a second there, you had me worried." Roma laughed as he picked three cards from his graveyard. The effect of the Blue Layer XYZ-material, that Adamant had sent back to the graveyard, shuffled three Super Quants (Red, Blue, Alphan) back into the deck. "But it seems you have become incapable of finishing what you start. One more monster and you could have gotten your rank back. Your deck is not helping you much, is it?" Adamant brushed off the mans claims. He set a monster and a trap card. "You waste your breath as always, Roma. Your talk will not change the outcome of this duel."

"Ha! And you talk too little! You never had a clue of just how little your guild believed in you. I was the one who had to save it, I gave them a clear purpose!" Roma gained his next turn. "You've seen what I did for us. If that does not convince you, then.. yes.. I will need to demonstrate the gap between us in a more visual way." His smile turned ugly as he discovered which card he had drawn. "Super Quantum, Blue Layer." He summoned yet another Blue Pilot(3/1200/2000). Quantum Layer Red was added to his hand through her effect. "And Super Quantal Mech Ship Magnacarrier!" The field spell followed. Roma discarded Red Layer from his hand to fuel the Magnacarrier. "I activate its effect; overlaying my Super Quantum monster to XYZ-summon the Super Quantal Mech of the same element!" Quantum Blue flew into the Mech Ship and came back out with her blue Grampulse Mech Beast(3/1800/2800). Meanwhile, thanks to the discarded Quantum Red card, Roma could special summon Quantum Green Layer back to the field. It was quickly absorbed by Grampulse's conversion effect and turned into an XYZ-material. "You remember how my Mech Beasts can attach my Super Quantums on the field, right?."

"You also remember how my field spell needs three XYZ-monsters to create the ultimate Quantal. I have two, I still need the one your Falcon swallowed. You planned it out so carefully. Unfortunately, I never let anything stop me from summoning _It."_ The XYZ-leader unveiled a spell in his hand. "Overlay Capture! Your attached XYZ-material is sent to the grave, and this spell becomes a material for my XYZ-monster!" Grampulse gained a third attachment, while Revolution Falcon lost Magnaliger. "! You.." Adamant had not counted on a card that was only useful for fights between XYZ-duelists.. Even Revolution Force had uses outside of XYZ on XYZ duels. "Yes. I knew this day could come, that someone would fight me for my title. It's not surpising that that turned out to be you." Everything was where Roma needed it to be. "The Magnacarrier will take my Mech Beasts from the graveyard or the field, and overlay them!" Magnaliger, Aeroboros, Grampulse and its three materials; they were the components for the ultimate XYZ-summon of The highest-rank combiner mech(12/3600/3200).

"Victory is mine. I have summoned Super Quantal Mech King Great Magnus! There is nothing you can do now, Adamant! With at least 4 unique XYZ-materials, Mech King Magnus is immune to all card effects. I have surpassed you in every way." Revolution Falcon could not reduce this monsters attackpoints to zero. "All you have done is stepping of the path I layed out." Adamant grunted, knowing what was to come. "Is that envy I detect? That was the last thing I expected from you, Adamant. You don't even know half of it, you have been stuck in a cell for days. I was the one who made this country recognize our power, I was the one who got our army contacts to step in line. You would never have even considered to call on them for aid." Roma placed a trap card down and entered his battle phase. "You are losing sight of the mission, Roma! We were supposed to make them our allies, not threaten them by holding everyone hostage!"

"And that was your problem. You were thinking too small, you were only concerned with defeating the enemy, when we can do so much more!" Roma yelled. "More? What do you mean?" Adamant asked him. "Oh come now, use your imagination. We should not just defend, we should conquer. This world and theirs, they are ours for the taking. We, the XYZ-Guild, are meant to rule. And rule we shall!"

(To be Continued in Annex 085: Mechanical Selection)

 **New Cards used by Adamant  
** Rank-Up-Magic: Revolution Force  
Raptors Ultimate Mace

 _-  
Overlay Hurricane_

 **New Cards used by Roma  
** Super Quantal Fairy Alphan  
Summoner Monk

-  
Emergency Teleport  
Overlay Capture


	85. Mechanical Selection

**Annex 085: Mechanical Selection**

Adamants LP: 8000 Roma's LP: 1400

The XYZ-Leader had revealed his true motivations and goals in front of his opponent, his army and his prisoners. "Have you gone mad? You cannot take over an entire country with cards and disks." They, primarily Iria, seemed to be the only one who had a problem with that. "We are a force, we must be reckoned with." The XYZ-duelists clung to every word Roma said. Naturally, as only the most dedicated or fanatic were still part of the guild. "Roma, we fight _for_ our country, we do not fight to take it." Adamant openly disapproved as well, and he was astonished that so many of his former men were willing to obey Roma. They had been trained too well, the need to follow any order was beaten into their heads. "As I said, you do not think big enough. What do you do when you defeat your enemies? You take what they possess. We have done it before, this castle is just a new beginning. With the secrets of Dreamworld and the technology of the Synchro Guild, we can overpower any real army."

"But first, you need to fall in line. Ex-leader." Roma made an attack with his rank 12 monster, Super Quantal Mech King Magnus(12/3600/3200). Its righthand Aeroboros-claw created a fierce whirlwind to capture Raidraptor Revolution Falcon(6/3000/3000). "Oh, now he can use Raptors Ultimate Mace to negate get a new Rank-Up-Magic and negate the damage!" One soldier commented on the effect of the spell card equipped to the Falcon, which normally triggered when the equipped monster was targeted for an attack. "Check again. When Magnus has 6 XYZ-materials, he wont let the opponent search for cards in his deck!" The other knew that effect could not trigger in this case, so Adamant wouldn't get any Rank-Up-spells. "..Raidraptor Readiness." Roma's only only recourse was to use his trap card. Raidraptor Readiness made his Raidraptors batlle-indestructible for this turn. Revolution Falcon survived, and Adamant took some battle damage.

Adamant's LP: 7400

"Do you hear that, Adamant? They do not care who wins, they care about the duel. I am going to make sure they can keep dueling." Naturally Roma did not leave it at that. "You have nothing you can give us anymore. Magnus, dismiss his Revolution Falcon!" Roma detached one material from the ultimate Super Mech. One each turn it could return a card to the deck. The XYZ-Raidraptor flew back to Adamants extra deck. "Will they still care if they understand what is at stake, Roma? There are challenges for fun and challenges for the fate of life. What you are doing is neither! It's dueling for the sake of dueling!" Uno fumed. In his wildest dreams he had never thought he would find a duelist like Roma. "You're preaching to the choir. Aren't you the same Uno who dueled just to get fame? Not that it matters, Adamant here is the prime example of a duelist who wants nothing else.." Roma turned his eye towards Alice. "He could have let you go, but he had to fight you. That cost us everything, but at least _he_ kept his honor." Roma spat and placed a trap card down. His turn was over.

"I will make no excuses for what I have done. The cards are weapons with a story of their own. They cannot be gained through force. Dueling is the true way. Just like it is the only way for me to regain my throne." Adamant used his turn to normal summon a Raidraptor Skull Eagle(3/1000/500). "I special summon Raidraptor Pain Lanius!" A tiny metal bird(1/100/100) with three red eyes fluttered down to perch on the zone next to the Eagle. Pain Lanius could be special summoned by targeting another Raidraptor on the field. Its level would mirror the level of that winged beast, however its user would take damage equal to the targets lowest stats, the defense points in this case. Pain Lanius(3/100/100)' target was Skull Eagle. "Rgh. Raidraptor - Fiend Eagle!" Adamant overlayed Eagle and Lanius to XYZ-summon the bloodred devils eagle(3/1300/0)

Adamants LP: 6900

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall?" In the background Ichirou shook his head. Fiend Eagle could inflict 3600 points of damage to Roma by targeting his monster with 3600 attackpoints. Alas, it would not be so easy. "Nice try, Adamant. Magnus, remove it!" The Super Mech King detached another material to send Fiend Eagle away from the field and chase it all the way into the extra deck. "If you could have sent my monsters back into my deck all along, you should have done it before I even XYZ-summoned." That way Magnus would have a defenseless Skull Eagle to crush. Now Adamant had only defensive monsters as he ended his turn. "Ha! I don't need tips from you anymore. This demonstration of power was to teach you that you shouldn't bother with the small fry! Whether you try rank 3 or rank 6, they don't stack up to the ultimate rank!"

"And now it is time for you to retire!" Roma took his turn and started the battle phase. "I attack your last monster with Magnus!" The combined Quantal mech flew across the field on its Aeroboros wings and extended its other hand to level the field with one punch. "Heh." And as the two monsters did battle, Magnus and the face-down Raidraptor Fuzzy Lanius(4/500/1500); Roma sprung his trap on Adamant. "!?" The trap card transformed into a sword made from prismatic green/red and blue light. "Graaaaah!" Magnus(4800/3200) used that sword to cleave Fuzzy Lanius and Adamant at the same time. "Super Quantal Mech Sword - Magnaslayer! This trap equips itself to my XYZ-monster and allows it to inflict defense-piercing damage! It also increases its attackpoints by 100 for each of its rank stars! You believed I was making the wrong play, when in fact it was you! You should have activated your trap just to be safe!" Adamant had Raidraptor Readiness in his graveyard, which he could have banished to negate all damage this turn. But the Magnaslayer trap had caught him off guard. By the time the damage step happened it was too late to activate Raidraptor Readiness.

Adamants LP: 3600

"Stop it! Why.. why are you hurting him?" Alice could not stand it anymore. Even if she closed her eyes, she could hear Adamants agonized cries. "Why do you care? He's not your friend. Nor is he mine, he never has been." Roma chuckled. "But you don't have to duel like this! Nobody has..." There was no point to solid-vision, all it added to a duel was pain. The idea of wanting to inflict that upon others was incomprehensible to her. " _He_ was the one who desired this ability, he wanted duels to be the way they were meant to be! What use is power if it doesn't affect anything? Our enemies need to realize what we can do, their mind and bodies must never forget! Now! the Magnaslayer trap can be tributed to give my monster two more attacks this turn!" Magnus(3600/3200) split Magnaslayer into three energy blades. The red blade faded, but the blue and green blade streaked towards Adamant. "Raidraptor Readiness!" Now Adamant had to banish his trap to stop the remaining damage. The Quantal Kings strikes were deflected. "Better late than never, Adamant!" Roma placed a trap card down and ended his turn.

"Roma, though you are strong, you are also misguided. We duel to prove our strength, not to cause suffering. Anyone can hurt people." Adamant clenched his hand. "Pain helps us understand what is dangerous and what isn't. That does not mean we should hand it out when it is not necessary!" Adamant activated a spell card, Allure of Darkness, to draw two cards. Last turn the destroyed Fuzzy Lanius had searched Adamants deck for a replacement Fuzzy Lanius. That dark-attribute winged beast was now banished by Allure of Darkness. "Raidraptor Last Strix!" One of the drawn cards was normal summoned; a tiny red-metal owl(1/100/100) with green wings and golden talons. "I tribute it to special summon 1 Raidraptor XYZ-monster, with its effects negated!" The Strix bird darted towards the extra deck and pulled a card out with its beak. Last Strix died, but Raidraptor Revolution Falcon(6/2000/3000) was brought back before his master. "And I activate Rank-Up-Magic: Astral Force! My XYZ-monster evolves by two ranks, into a XYZ-monster of the same type and element!"

Revolution Falcon vanished within a bright blue fire, its body was "He's ranking up Revolution Falcon!?" The crowd gasped and muttered. "Just how high can he go?" Few had ever seen him go to rank 8. The Falcon transformed into something that barely resembled a winged beast anymore. It was a white and red solar machine(8/3000/2000). "Raidraptor Satellite Cannon! When it is XYZ-summoned, it destroys all spell and trap cards on the field!" The Falcons wingcannons unloaded their laser clips on Roma's set trap; Call of the Haunted. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Adamant!" Roma quickly fired back by detaching one material from Magnus. "I allowed you your moment of glory, but that has passed!" The Satellite Cannon Falcon was forced to retreat the extra deck. "Now I will.." Roma expected to get a perfect direct attack on his next turn now, since Adamant had already used up his normal summon. But he still had a spell left. "Rank-Up-Magic: Soul Shave Force." He payed half his lifepoints to activate it. "Soul Shave!?"

Adamants LP: 1800

"I can evolve one XYZ-monster in my graveyard, by two ranks!" Adamant targeted Revolution Falcon. "Satellite Cannon Falcon, return!" The symbol of the raidraptors flared up once again, as the rank 6 Falcon was attached to the space falcon(8/3000/2000) for the second time. "He tricked _him_ this time!" Uno exclaimed. Had Roma simply waited, he would have had nothing to fear from Adamants monsters. Instead, he wasted a XYZ-material. "Your Quantal King has three materials, it can be affected by my cards!" Adamant detached one material from the Satellite Cannon Falcon. "Your rank 12 monster loses 800 attackpoints for each Raidraptor in my graveyard!" The spirits of Revolution Falcon, Skull Eagle, Pain Lanius, Fuzzy Lanius, Tribute Lanius and Mimicry Lanius circled around the Quantal King like vultures. They blasted it, until it(0/3200) had no power left. "Everyone stand back." Adamant shouted. "Attack, Satellite Cannon!" The Falcon took off into the sky, as high as it could, and built up power by drawing in the light of the stars and the dawning sun on the horizon. "Destroy Magnus!" Once all the solar forces were prepared, they were thrown down in one massive beam. The blast decimated Roma's field, leaving a crater in the castle courtyard.

"You..destroyed my King? My strongest card, because of a rank 8.." Smoke and fire was everywhere, the only reason Roma survived that attack was because Last Strix prevented battle damage during the turn it was tributed. "So what!?" He shouted his fear away. "In a battle, the monsters do not matter! As long as you can hurt your enemy more, you will win! I activate the final effect of the Quantal Mech King!" The destroyed Mech separated into its three Quantal-components; Grampulse(3/1800/2800), Aeroboros(4/2200/2400) and Magnaliger(5/2600/2100). "When Magnus is destroyed, he can special summon three unique Quantal XYZ-monsters from the graveyard! Hahaha! Did you think you succeeded, Adamant? You failure of a leader!" Roma's laughter continued until his opponent ended his turn. "..." Which Adamant did after he placed a trap card down.

"Hmph, you hit your limit, the world belongs to those who have infinite potential." Roma drew his card. It was a Super Quantum Green Layer. "I will destroy the peak of your power!" Magnaliger uses its effect to turn Green Layer into an XYZ-material. Said material was detached to activate the Red Quantals destruction effect. The target was the sky-bound Satellite Falcon. The Magnaligers flames reached it caused a magnificent explosion beyond the clouds. "Take this! The direct attack from all my Quantals! Finally, we know which one of us is superior!" Roma pumped his fist, and his XYZ-monsters crossed the crater to catch their opponent. "If you did not know before now, than you never were superior to begin with... Roma. I knew all along." Adamant slowly moved his hand to his trap card. "That I was stronger than you." He flipped the trap, XYZ-Reborn. "No.. not that card!?" The XYZ-revival trap resummoned an XYZ-monster to the field; Satellite Cannon Falcon. Even worse, XYZ-Reborn turned itself into an XYZ-material for the Falcon. "How can something so simple, so anticlimactic.."

"Use what is effective, discard what is not. Do not make more enemies than those that are required. And most of all, do not over-glorify battle. There is nothing glorious about what you are doing, Roma." Adamant gave his opponent no time to declare his endphase, and Roma made no attempt to switch his other monsters to defense position. The turn was over and they both knew it. "I almost became like that myself, the duelist from that time would destroy you with his ultimate power." Adamant had a choice to activate Astral Force's second effect; skipping the draw phase to draw the spell itself from the graveyard. He went with his regular draw instead. "Twice now I have been defeated at the height of my arrogance. You already suffered one loss, maybe you will see what I mean after your second." Adamant activated Satellite Cannons attackdraining effect. The six Raidraptors in the graveyard reduced all of Magnaliger(0/2000)'s attackpoints. "Regardless. The XYZ-Guild is no longer yours! Satellite Cannon Falcon, attack!" The falcon released a point blank shot at the Fire Super mech, to decide the match for leadership once and for all. "Adamant!"

Roma's LP: 0

"Incredible. He beat Roma!" For a moment, the XYZ-guild did not know how to react. "So he is... in charge again?.. He is our leader! Adamant! Adamant!" Some broke out the cheers and salutes. "Sir. What are your orders? What do we do now?" Others wanted to hear him speak. No attention was sent Roma's way. "You change your mind so easily?" Now that he stood there, Adamant was wondering why he desired to get back his people in the first place. However he had to use them while he could. "..My first order. Is to release these people!" He waved his hand at Iria, Uno and Alice. "Release us!?" While the XYZ-duelists did so without question, Iria had nothing but incredulous looks for the 'leader' of the guild. "You really are a man of your word, Adamant." Uno smiled at him as he was finally allowed to stand. "It appears so." Iria begrudgingly admitted. "With this our debt is settled. Yet, this is not the end for us. Uno, Iria, Alice; I could use you for the fight against the other world. The choice is yours. However, first we must undo the damage Roma has done.."

"Stop the presses!" The first act of leader Adamant was rudely interrupted by a group of synchro duelists who swarmed out of the castle to storm the courtyard. "Eric? Eric!" Alice perked right up when she heard the voice of this groups leader. "Stop the presses? That is what you are going with for a battle-cry?" Duelists like Jet and Akai were also with him. "I couldn't come up anything else! Who cares? Adamant!" Eric took a firm stance. "Take a good look! I got several dozen duelists all ganged up to fight against you and your army! You'll let my friends go right now, or there will be hell to pay!" Eric meant every word of it. Everyone here was not going to hide away like Cassius. "Your friends are free to go." Adamants answer was rather lackluster in the face of all that. "They are? Well, that was easy." Akai chortled. "Uh? What is going on? Are you playing tricks?" Eric stammered. "I don't think so." Uno casually walked away from the army in black. They did nothing to stop him. "What? So I did all of this for nothing?" Eric sighed. "Ahem! As I was about to say!" Adamant cleared his throat first and made his second announcement. "I also order that the generators be dismantled!"

"Oh no, that wont do." Said the snake-tongued XYZ-duelist as he joined the excited crowd. "Ichirou.. Are you refusing my order?" Adamant glared at the second-in command. "Aha-ha.. Not quite. See, Roma appointed me as his successor, should any ill fate befall him. He left every code with me to ensure that nothing would undo our work." He took a small remote from his pocket and tossed it at Adamant. "You can try and guess, but I changed the password. Only I know the words to stop the generators. And there is no other way to shut them off, we made a few modifications to the original program. The barriers they create also insulate them from outside interference. It would take an atomic bomb to get through the forcefield." He grinned while Adamant futilely tried to deactive the generators with the remote. "What do you gain from defying the guild?" Adamant had only ever known Ichirou as a sycophant. He never expected him to make a powerplay. "Oh pretty much everything." Ichirou flashed a card in his hand; Dark Rebellion XYZ-Dragon. "The secrets, the guild, the cards."

"Ichirou. This is not what we agreed upon!" It was now that Roma spoke again. "You were supposed to carry out my plans! Not create your own!" Even his second-in-command had betrayed him. The irony was lost on Roma. "I am filled with regrets, Roma. But you have shown us your weakness. You cannot be an effective leader anymore. I will offer myself to take your role." The XYZ-duelist stated as he placed his hand on his chest. "I was the one who made you what you are!" The defeated leader yelled once more. "I was the only one who saw the power at our disposal. All of you are cowards, afraid to really change the world!" Yet he was not heard, his army did not listen. They did not want to look at him anymore.

"Graaagh!" That changed when a strange and focused blast of light hit the courtyard. "!" It took a while before anyone even noticed what had happened. "Aah.." Alice witnessed it first hand. Her trembling hands grabbed her face. "AAAAHH!" She out a bloodcurdling scream. "What? What is it? Alice?" Eric could not see anything from his position. Others did, and it had been a ghastly experience. "Roma.. he is.." The former leader was no more. All that was left of him was a card on the ground. "What is this?" Adamant picked the card up. It felt heavier than a normal playing card. That was the least unusual thing about it. "No.." When Adamant flipped the card around he saw _him_. Roma's image was captured on the card, his face frozen in horror. "He turned..into a card?" Uno had to say it to believe it. "Who did this?"

"Good morning!" The culprit revealed herself and her entourage. "I thought you wouldn't mind. The man _did_ talk a lot." Dame Phoebe spoke with a melodic tone as she pranced through the gates, with Martel by her side. "And well, when a duelists life reaches zero. You just have to make sure he _stays_ at zero."

(To be Continued in Annex 086: Clear my Conscience)

 **New Cards used by Adamant  
** Raidraptor - Pain Lanius  
Raidraptor - Last Strix

-  
Raidraptor - Satellite Cannon Falcon

-  
Rank-Up-Magic: Astral Force

 **New Cards used by Roma  
** Super Quantal Mech Sword - Magnaslayer

-  
Call of the Haunted


	86. Clear My Conscience

**Annex 086: Clear my Conscience**

"He was turned into.. a card? That's impossible!" Iria could not believe what she was saying, nobody could. Roma had disappeared, leaving only a card. "No, living without your blood is _impossible_. This isn't." Dame Phoebe was responsible for what happened in between, through some method which she explained as she flipped back and forth between her personalities. "It's child's play for dear sweet Martel here. Roma was converted to pure energy and all of his lovely parameters are stored as data inside that card. Be careful not to damage it Adamant. These cards are not that sturdy." She giggled. "If you break it in half, he might come back with the spine cracked or his brain scrambled, ahahah!" She cackled. "You're a monster." Adamant growled. "Flattery will get you nowhere. And you have nothing else to interest me.. Pity." Phoebe waved her hand. "You're the one I want." She pointed her black-gloved finger at Ichirou. "How very forward." The XYZ-Duelist took out the Dark XYZ Dragon card. "I take it this is what you're after?"

"Bingo." Phoebe revealed her Venom Fusion Dragon card. "But we are missing one.. Get me Bakker!" She ordered several fusion guild duelists to bring a special guest. "Bakker?" Eric flinched. That was one of Phoebe's own guildsmen. Now he was dragged to the courtyard, cuffed and gagged. "Oh, didn't you know, Eric? Bakker was the spy. His counterpart in the other world worked for Cassius. Once we learned about these insiders, Martel quickly snuffed them out. Then we passed the information along to the XYZ-Guild through a back-channel." She happily divulged something that was news to Adamant. "You told them? Just so they would strike against the synchro guild? How did you even hear about this?" Adamant had been unable to get any messages out while he was in the castle. "You can thank your friend, Eric." She said with a smile. "That's bullcrap! I didn't say anything!" Eric angrily objected. Was she still using him after all he went through? "You didn't have to, you _thought_ it. Just because you broke free of our hypnosis, does not mean your mind is closed to us."

"Now, will the real Cassius please stand up!" Phoebe shoved the muffling Bakker towards Martel. "Or do we have to make another artpiece out of someone?" The blackhaired kid grabbed Bakker by the throat.

"STOP!" Cassius' voice finally echoed above the duelists. "Ah." The synchro-duelist stood on one of the castle's towertops, with Clear Wing Synchro Dragon in his hand. "If it is me you want, here I am! Let everyone here go, and I will duel you for the right of this card!" If they wanted to get him, they would have to come up. "That's exactly what I hoped for, Cassius." Dame Phoebe gestured at her entourage, they lowered their dueldisks and released Bakker. "He's mine." Dame Phoebe walked off into the castle. "Interesting arrangement. Adamant, hold the fort for me." Ichirou followed her lead. They each headed up a different tower of the castle. Meanwhile the other forces were all on stand-by. "Hmph." The situation was out of Adamants hands.

"Uno..we have to.. we have to go." A small voice whimpered among the noise of the guilds. "Alice!?" The young girl had crept up to Uno, holding him with her shivering arms. "Please.. we have to go. We can..I can't... not again." She was sputtering and trembling, breathing softly yet frantically. "What is happening to her?" Even Iria could see something was wrong, though not why. "She's having another panic attack! Da.. Alice, wait. Calm down! We're here." Eric tried to talk to her, which did not exactly help her. "No! We shouldn't be here! We'll all end up like him! I don't want to! I don't want to!" It just made her scream and struggle. "Argh. I'm no good at this. We need Emily!" She would know what to do with her sister right now. "I can go look for her with some guys. Cassius should be busy right now anyway." Akai offered. "Thanks." Uno nodded. "Come on Alice. We'll go away from the noise." Though she wasn't responsive, she did allow Uno to walk her inside. "This has happened before?" Iria asked Eric. "That's what Emily said..."

Cassius' LP: 8000 Ichirou's LP: 8000 Phoebe's LP: 8000

At this point, the three guild-representatives reached the top. Ichirou, Phoebe and Cassius claimed one tower each. "So this is a battle royal?" Ichirou grinned. "Yes, the winner takes all three dragon cards." Phoebe rubbed her hands. "That is fine by me and my guild." Cassius was ready. "As the host of this battlefield, I will take the first turn! I normal summon Speedroid Razorang!" A golden boomerang(4/2000/0) spun around the tower, its top half unfolded and revealed a masked rider-robot within. "And I special summon Speedroid Taketomborg." The presence of the wind-attribute Razorang suited the summoning condition of the transforming toy borg(3/600/1200). "I tribute it to summon the Speedroid Tuner Red-Eyed Dice." Taketomborg switched zones with the golden dice(1/0/0). "Synchro summon! Hi-Speedroid Hagoita!" Razorang and Red-Eyed Dice tuned with each other to turn into a green/pink paddle-shaped airship(5/2000/1000). It hovered in between the towers. "I set three cards face-down and end my turn!"

"What's this, a missed opportunity to summon Clear Wing?" Ichirou had the second turn as he was second to reach the top. "I suppose I shall have to set the example." Ichirou placed three cards face-down in the spell/trap zone. "Because there are no traps in my graveyard, I can activate this trap monster during the turn it is set; The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine." Ichirou's trap flipped and transformed into Black body armor(4/0/300), possessed by a blue flame wraith. "And I will normal summon The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor." A full set of possessed black armor(4/1000/2000), sans helmet, was summoned besides Shade Brigandine. These two would make perfect materials for the XYZ Dragon. "Not just yet! I activate Hagoita's effect!" The HiSpeedroid exploded into a million stardust particles. "Hagoita can be tributed to raise the levels of all monsters on the field by 1!" The stardust clung to Shade Brigandine(5/0/300) and Fragile Armor(5/1000/2000) like glitter, making them unusable for a rank 4 XYZ-summon. "Well, that is disappointing." Ichirou sighed and let his turn finish.

"Phantom Knights? You gave yourself some new action toys, didn't you Ichirou?" Dame Phoebe mused as she went into her draw phase. "A new position deserves a new deck, don't you agree?" He replied with his usual serene demeanor. "Heh. You just stitched your deck together around your new dragon. But we will stick to what we like.." She summoned her monster, a stuffed owl plush(3/1000/1000). "Fluffal Owl, coulds you be a dearie and give me my fusion spell?" Through its effect, the summoned Owl plucked Polymerization from the deck and dropped it in her hands. "Oh, but I did not abandon all of my past." Ichirou flipped his continuous trap card as soon her plan became obvious. "Anti-Spell Fragrance? You little bastard." It was the trap that restricted spells, noone could activate spell cards from their hand or during the turn they were set. For a deck that revolved around fusion, that was a crippling blow. "I guess we all have to be a little patient to get to the good parts." She licked her lips and placed the spell card down. Three other cards were also set in the spell/trap zone. "Turn over!."

"The good parts? Do you still think this is a game, Phoebe? This is about our survival! Adamant was right, you _are_ a monster." Cassius normal summoned Speedroid Double Yoyo(4/1400/1400). The yoyo roid used its own effect to special summon the tuner Red-Eyed Dice from the graveyard. "I activate Hagoita's effect from the graveyard; it can special summon itself when a tuner speedroid stands on my field! But for the rest of the turn I can only special summon wind-attribute monsters." The grave opened a portal, and the HiSpeedroid vertically blasted back to the field. "Good thing _it_ is a wind-monster too. I synchro summon the Synchro Dragon!" Red-Eyed Dice had used its effect to raise Double Yoyo's level by 2 stars. The Yoyo(6/1400/1400) and the Dice synchronized; two materials and seven stars collided to shape the white card; Clear Wing(7/2500/2000).

"I don't know what you plan on doing, Dame Phoebe, but your hands should be the last ones to hold these cards. To hold Doms secrets. And you Ichirou, I wont allow you to turn use these cards for conquest. I activate Speed Recovery to special summons a Speedroid from my graveyard." Cassius flipped his set spell to target and return Speedroid Razorang to the field. "Speedroid Razorang can switch itself to defense position to decrease one monsters attackpoints by 800. It will target my own dragon." The boomerang-roid transformed back into its more throw-able mode, and started draining Clear Wings attackpoints. "But because my level 5 monster was targeted by another monsters effect, I can activate Clear Wings power to negate that effect and destroy that monster!" Razorangs energy inflow was reversed. The dragons wings drained it completely, destroying the speedroid and adding its attackpoints to Clear Wing(4500/2000) for this turn. "Clear Wing and Hagoita, attack the Phantom Knights!" The dragon blew up the Fragile Armor knight with one energy blast. The HiSpeedroid shattered the Shadow Brigandine with its shuttlecock missiles. "End turn."

Ichirou's LP: 4500

"First blood, eheheh." Phoebe enjoyed watching Ichirou taking no small amount of damage. "I suppose he isn't playing favorites." Ichirou dusted himself off before drawing his next card. "Still, Cassius, you can only delay the inevitable. I summon The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves." A specter(3/1000/500) of blue and red flames manifested, inhabiting black armor and large black gloves. "When I control a Phantom Knight, I may special summon The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots." Another blue-fire phantom(3/200/1200) in black rags sprinted to the top of the tower. "Are you going to use Hagoita's effect on these knights, hmm? I think not." Cassius did not know where this was going, but he did know he did not want to give Ichirou two level 4 monsters. "I will XYZ-summon The Phantom Knights of Break Sword." The two phantoms merged their spectral bodies and their armaments, to create a black-armored and headless centaur(4/3000/1000). Any Dark-type XYZ-monster that was XYZ-summoned with Ragged Gloves as the material, would gain 1000 attackpoints. "Break Sword can destroy one monster on both sides of the field." The Black centaur knight slashed down one of its XYZ-materials with its massive sword. "I destroy Hi-Speedroid Hagoita and Break Sword!"

"Break Sword?" Cassius was surprised by both choices. If he wanted to, he could have targeted Clear Wing. The Synchro dragon did not negate multi-targeting effects. Instead Hagoita was destroyed, and the XYZ Phantom Knight dissolved. "When an XYZ-summoned Break Sword is destroyed, it can summon two Phantom Knights of the same level from the graveyard." The armor parts left behind by Break Sword were taken over by the spirits of Silent Boots(4/200/1200) and Ragged Gloves(4/1000/500). "And as you might have noticed, these summoned monsters gain an extra level." The XYZ-duelists grin grew as wide as it could. "Is he going to do it!?" The crowd below shouted. "I overlay my Knights." Ragged Gloves and Silent Boots left their physical hosts and gave their energy to shape the Dark Dragon(4/3500/2000) of the Rebellion. As it was a dark-type monster, it similarly gained 1000 attackpoints from Ragged Gloves. _"The second.."_ From below, Adamant saw it for the first time. _"The same points, the same appearance."_ Not only did it resemble Clear Wing, it resembled Uno's Pendulum Dragon. _"Are these appearances remnants of something forgotten?"_

"Alice. Can I get you anything? Tell me what we can do." Inside the castle, just out of sight of the mobs, Uno and Eric were attempting to console Alice. But the girl was so out of it, she couldn't even register their words. "Guh.." It was in this unfortunate moment that Uno felt a pulse near his heart. _"Not now."_ He reached for his chest. "What the... The jewel?" Eric was seeing the same thing, the shimmering light of the pendulum. "Something has got it upset, something close." Uno's ears picked up a noise that Eric seemingly did not. It was a low indescribable wailing. "The dragon?" It stopped when Uno touched his deck and took out Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "It's just like the last time, Odd-Eyes does not like the other dragons." He might not have summoned them this time, but the Pendulum Dragon could still feel their presence. "You are not suggesting the card caused a reaction from that crystal, do you? Dom said the dragons were inspired by yours, that is the only connection." While Iria still refused to accept the idea that the cards were alive in some way. "I felt something, Iria. And I do not believe in coincidences.."

Back at the duel.. "Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragons effects targets one monster to steal half of his attackpoints." The black dragon detached its two materials and selected the Clear Wing Dragon as its victim. "If it is straight-up showdown, than the synchro dragon will win, Ichirou!" Cassius countered with Clear Wings effect, as a level 5 monster had now been targeted. "Will it?" Except then Ichirou activated his trap card. "Phantom Knights' Wing. This trap negates the first destruction of my monster, while giving it 500 more attackpoints." Rebellion Dragons wings were covered by ghostly-blue flames. Though the effect was stopped, Clear Wing could not destroy Dark Rebellion(4000/2000) to increase its own powers. "Then, by banishing Phantom Knights' Wing from the graveyard, a Phantom Knight may be special summoned from that grave." The blue flames descended into the ground like a phoenix and resurrected the fallen black knight Break Sword(4/2000/1000). Now with its original attackpower.

"Now, let's have a few more Phantomknight effects activate from my graveyard. Banishing Phantom Knight Ragged Gloves sends a Phantom Knight card from the deck to the graveyard. Banishing Silent Boots adds a Phantom Knight card to my hand. And banishing Fragile Armor discards one Phantomknight card to draw one card." Ichirou sent Phantom Knights' Spear, added Phantom Knights' Sword, and discarded The Phantom Knights of Tomb Shield to draw. "Well, we can have our battle phase. Break Sword attacks Owl." The headless phantom knight allowed Fluffal Owl to share an experience, as it decapitated the bird with one swing from its sword. "You boys and your dragons. You are so adorable." Dame Phoebe clicked her tongue and activated one of her traps; Fluffal Crane. "I will stick to what I know. My trap takes back the destroyed Fluffal Owl and draws one card." This destruction was not all negative for her.

Phoebe's LP: 7000

"Hmmhhmm. Then Dark Rebellion will slay its counterpart. That would be the most poetic thing to do." The black dragon unleashed its dark thunder upon the white dragon. "Not so fast! I activate Follow Wing! My synchro-monster cannot be destroyed and will destroy monsters that fight it!" Now Clear Wings wings were given a radiant force. "Ah but that trap only works on level 5 or higher monsters. It is useless against a monster with a rank." The XYZ-dragons lightning passed through the golden wings and struck Clear Wing in the chest. But the blow did not kill it. "Aargh! Follow Wing still makes my dragon indestructible." Cassius grunted. "I guess we will keep this rivalry going then." Ichirou placed one card in his spell/trap zone. "Your turn, Dame."

Cassius' LP: 6500

"Finally. You XYZ-duelists always take a damn eternity." Phoebe snarled as she switched her dueldisk to her right wrist. "And you are just as guilty, Cassius! Why go through such boring and complicated plans when you can just cut straight to the chase?" She drew one card and normal summoned a demonic maw of tomahawk axes(4/1800/800). "Edge Imp Tomahawk, become Edge Imp Saw!" The Edge Imp used one of its abilities to discard another Edge Imp from the deck and assume its name. The fiend exchanged its axes for chainsaws. "Polymerization, lets fuse Fluffal Owl with Edge Imp Saw and fusion summon Frightfur Leo!" Phoebe flipped the fusion spell card. EdgeImp Tomahawk mutilated the fuzzy owl to stitch together a new toy of death; a pale lion(7/2400/2000) with saws all over its body. "Leo, you know my hearts desire. Tear up Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!" The lion hurled saws from its torso towards the black dragon. "My my.." Ichirou would lose the monster and lifepoints equal to that targets original attackpoints, if he did not act soon.

"Clear Wing!" And it came as a surprise to him, that Cassius acted first. "Synchro Dragon can also negate an effect activated by a level 5 monster on the field!" The white dragon flew in between the two other towers and deflected the saws back towards Frightfur Leo. "Eheh?" Phoebe's fusion beast was ripped to shreds, and Cassius' synchro monster(4900/2000) absorbed its attackpoints for this turn. "Is this your way of offering a truce, Cassius?" Ichirou inquired. "No, I just saw an opening to remove a threat. I know you did not _need_ my help, Ichirou." Ichirou's traps and spells could also have saved the XYZ-Dragon. But Clearwing cured the ailment, rather than treating the symptoms. "Heheh. As if there was not enough evidence that you two could never work well together." Phoebe took this chance to activate her trap card. "Designer Frightfur! It summons an Edge Imp from the graveyard and treats it as a 'Frightfur' monster!" The Tomahawk Edge Imp was revived, and given a deathly-pale makeover. "Here is my gift. Edge Imp Tomahawk discards one Edge Imp in my hand, to inflict 800 points of damage to my enemy!" An Edge Imp Frightfuloid was tossed to the grinding axes. This meal gave the Imp the energy to lob one of its tomahawks in Cassius' arm. "Guaah!"

Cassius' LP: 5700

"Synchronization, invasion; you all have your own little schemes to help a handful. Fusion has a bigger appetite." The girl said as she poked the last card in her spell/trap zone with the tip of her finger. "The only way to save anyone, is to combine what we have. And since we can't get along peacefully, I wont ask nicely!" She flipped the spell face-up. "Frightfur Fusion! I fuse the two Frightfurs in my graveyard with the one on the field!" The discarded Edge Imp Frightfuloid counted itself as a 'Frightfur' monster. It, the dead Frightfur Leo and the 'redesigned' Edge Imp Tomahawk were banished by Frightfur Fusion to special summon the toy of death made from three other toys of death. "Frightfur Chimera!" The horrific fusion(8/2800/2000) between stuffed beasts and killing metal rose in between the three towers, overshadowing the two dragons. "I shall take both your dragons! Then, just like Dreamworld, you will have no choice but to fuse with my guild, permanently!"

(To be Continued in Annex 087: The Four Signs of the Apocalypse)

 **New Cards used by Cassius  
** Speedroid Razerang

-  
Hi-Speedroid Hagoita

-  
Speed Recovery

 **New Cards used by Ichirou Azora  
** The Phantom Knights of Fragile Armor  
The Phantom Knights of Ragged Gloves  
The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots

-  
The Phantom Knights of Break Sword  
Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon

-  
The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine  
Phantom Knights' Wing

 **New Cards used by Dame Phoebe  
** Fluffal Owl  
Edge Imp Saw  
Edge Imp Frightfuloid

-  
Frightfur Leo

-  
Designer Frightfur


	87. The Four Signs of the Apocalypse

**Annex 087: The Four Signs of the Apocalypse**

"Just like dreamworld? What did she mean with that!?" Mentioning her precious company was a sure-fire way to get Iria riled up. "Did she.. convince the shareholders, while Dom was indisposed?" It sounded bad. It would be even worse if anyone was to ever find out that Dom was no longer in this world. "I need to confirm this." Iria left the castle hall to run towards their helicopter which was still perched on the fourth tower; the landing tower. "..." On her way she noticed Martel, the creepy kid, staring at her. Something troubled her about his expression, but she could not focus on that right now.

Cassius' LP: 5700 Ichirou's LP: 4500 Phoebe's LP: 7000

Up above the battle royal raged on. "Let the feast begin! Frightfur Chimera, kill Phantom Knight of Break Sword!" Dame Phoebe had created her ultimate death-toy(8/2800/2000) and one of its three beast-heads sprang forwards. It bit off the top half of the headless centaur knight(4/2000/1000)'s body. When Frightfur Chimera attacked, no spells or traps could be activated until it was finished with its destruction. "Hmm, so you want to absorb my guild. Well, you will have to take that up with Adamant too. As for me.. I can't even give you my XYZ-monster. A Phantom Knight revived with Phantom Knights' Wing is banished when it is removed from the field." The Break Sword perished and its remains evaporated before they could fall into the grave. Frightfur Chimera had no corpse to revive. "Bleh, barely had any taste to it." The girl spat. "There's always next turn." She placed two cards down in the spell/trap zone and passed the turn to Cassius.

Ichirou's LP: 3700

"If you try to control my guild, we will fight back from the other side. Dame Phoebe. But you wont get that far! I wont trust either of you with what we built!" Dom activated the effect of a spell card in his graveyard, Speed Recovery. "Speed Recovery can banish itself and return a Speedroid from the graveyard; Speedroid Double Yoyo, to my hand. I summon it!" The bladed Double Yoyo(4/1400/1400) came back to immediately use its own effect. With its string it revived the Speedroid tuner Red-Eyed Dice(1/0/0). "I change Double Yoyo's level with the Red Eyed Dice's effect." The golden dice added a single star to the Yoyo(5/1400/1400). "Synchro summon! HiSpeedroid Kendama!" The two regular speedroids tuned into one Hi-Speedroid; the flying Kendama machine(6/2200/1600). "I activate Kendama's ffect, inflicting 500 points of damage by banishing a machine from my graveyard. However!" The effect's cost was paid, removing Razorang from the graveyard. "I negate Kendama's effect with Clear Wing!" The rest was blocked by the white dragon. It(7/4700/2000) destroyed the HiSpeedroid to soak up its attackpoints.

"Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, attack Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!" Ichirou still owned Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon(9/4000/2000), which had been powered up by various effects. Cassius needed to feed Kendama to Clear Wing to overcome that hurdle. Though Ichirou was stunned he put in that much effort. "Coming after me when you know which cards await for you?" Ichirou activated two trap effects and one came from his graveyard. "The Phantom Knights of Tomb Shield negates one trap or spell card on the field." A grey shield in chains, targeted Follow Wing. Cassius' continuous trap was supposed to protect Clear Wing from attacks and fatal effects. "And Phantom Knights Sword to empower my dark-monster even further." The second, a haunted sword made from purple crystals, was activated from the field and given to Dark Rebellion(4800/2000). The black dragon gained an additional 800 attackpoints. Enough to become the bigger power in the upcoming clash. "Yes I knew. I knew and I counted on you to negate Follow Wing this turn, Ichirou!" Cassius revealed his own set card once Follow Wing had been sealed. "I activate Hi-Speed Re-Force!"

 _Hi-Speed Re-Force, Quickplay Spell  
_ _Banish 1 "speedroid" Synchro-monster from your graveyard, then target 1 synchro monster you control; it gains 1000 ATK and can attack all monsters your opponent controls, once each._

"Oh?" The quickplay spell banished Hi-Speedroid Hagoita. Its speed and power were given to the Synchro Dragon(5700/2000). "Now I can take care of two birds with one stone!" Clear Wing sped up, breaking the soundbarrier as it flashed from sight and re-appeared behind Dark Rebellion. "Ah but, I can banish Phantom Knights Spear from my graveyard to negate the destruction of my monster." Ichirou narrowly avoided the dragons demise, as he let a spell spear from the grave absorb the blast that the Synchro Dragon fired at the XYZ-Dragon. "Oof.. But I see now why they call you the chief of the synchro guild." Ichirou still took battle damage from that exchange.

Ichirou's LP: 2800

"Guh.." And Uno felt that damage as well. _"Now what? Am I.. sharing their pain? Is Odd-Eyes sharing their pain?"_ The crystals flashes got fiercer and fiercer, it was starting to draw the attention of a duelists outside. "So this is what it looks like when it is active?" Adamant came into the hall and witnessed the pendulums light first hand. "I did not realize this before. Your crystal resembles those used by December and his kind. Are they like you?" Though the shape differed, that glow was unmistakably the same as the others. "Shouldn't you be watching the guild, or the duel?" Eric asked him defensively. "The guilds are more interested in Ichirou now. And I had a feeling that what is transpiring here, holds more relevance. Now answer me, Uno." Adamant repeated his question with a firmer tone. "Sorta. I don't remember them and they don't seem to know who I am either. They claim to be timetravelers from the future, not just from another timeline." That was as close to understanding it as Uno got. "Travelers from the future? A remarkable story.."

"NO! No. No future! Wont have one! Cant run away!" Alice let out another scream, after having been eerily quiet for a while. "Ah.. Alice, please. We're getting your sister, we will be out of here soon!" Eric thought she'd been getting better. Something set her off again. "... How long has she been like that?" Adamant was slightly confounded and watched intently at the panicking girl. "Since Roma..well.. got carded." Uno did not have a better way to describe that process. "...Because of that?" The new leader glanced at the card of the old leader. Roma's 'curse' was a horrid experience to see, yet nobody had reacted like she did. "Could she have seen something like this before?" He asked bluntly. "I wouldn't know how.." Uno said.

Back at the duel, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon still had one more attack in him. "Your turn to be attacked, Phoebe!" Cassius ordered a strike against Frightfur Chimera. "Heh?" The synchro dragon sped up again, making it appear as if he had teleported behind Dame Phoebe and her monstrosity. "Why do you hate your dragon so?" So she now flipped her face-down card; Battle Fusion. "!" Cassius' heart froze as he realized the totality of his error. "Hahahaha! You attacked my fusion monster, Battle Fusion gives him your monsters attackpoints this battle!" Frightfur Chimera(8500/2000) increased its size several times over until it towered over the dragons and the castle. "No take-backsies!" Phoebe flicked her finger as Clear Wing continued its attack. It slammed into the Chimera and was crushed by its snake-tail. At the same time, Follow Wing destroyed itself, as it lost its original target. "Mine!" The Chimera special summoned Clear Wing Synchro Dragon(1250/2000) to her side of the field in defense mode. The victims had their original attackpoints halved, but the Chimera(3100/2000) gained 300 attackpoints for each 'stolen' monster card.

Cassius' LP: 2900

"Damn it!" Cassius ended his battle phase. "I activate the other effect of Kendama, from my graveyard!" Now that Cassius controlled no cards, he could and _had_ to use the HiSpeedroid's selfrevival effect. Kendama summoned itself back in defense mode. Then the synchro duelist placed a trap card and passed his turn to Ichirou. "Well done, Cassius." The latter was a bit displeased that things turned out this way. "Maybe I should clean up your mess." The draw phase was equally frustrating, as Ichirou drew Reinforcement of the Army. He could not activate that spell due to his own Anti-Spell Fragrance. "You certain you'd rather not gut Cassius. He is as much your enemy as I am." Phoebe asked tantalizingly. "Ergh." Cassius was not defenseless, but his cards didn't give him much hope. "Perhaps." Ichirou set his narrow eyes on her. "But I think not." Ichirou started the battle phase. "Dark Rebellion, destroy Frightfur Chimera." Phoebe had one trap left, but even if she would try to destroy his dragon, he could counter her with the effect of Phantom Knights' Sword. He would not make the same mistake as Cassius.

"Uh oh, time for Magical Hats." Phoebe reverted to 'Dame' as she giddily revealed her other face-down card. "The Hats?" Three magician hats plopped down on the field to hide Frightfur Chimera. The Magical Hats trap took two spells from Phoebe's deck and set them face-down as monsters, along with the fused death toy. The three cards were shuffled around, so Ichirou did not know which one to target. "You would have a card like that. In that case.." He sighed and redirected his XYZ-monsters attack towards her Synchro monster. Dark Rebellion destroyed Clear Wing Synchro Dragon with one attack. "Too late, too late. My disk already analyzed the decryption codes Dom put in this synchro card." The girl giggled as the card was tossed back to Cassius. "What?"Cassius cringed. "Yep. Two down, one to go." She turned her smile to Ichirou. "And I already know how I am going to get it." Once the battle phase ended, the two fake hats disappeared and their base cards were destroyed. The graveyard gained Toy Vendor and Double Fusion.

 _Double Fusion, Normal Spell_  
 _Fusion summon 1 Fusion monster from your extra deck, using monsters from your hand or your side of the field as Fusion materials.  
During your turn: you can banish this card from your Graveyard and pay 500 lifepoints, then Fusion summon 1 Fusion monster from your extra deck, using monsters from your hand or side of the field as Fusion materials._

"Heehee." With the destruction of the Toy Vendor, an Edge Imp Sabres could be moved out of the deck and into Phoebe's hand. "Our turn." Phoebe summoned the Edge-Imp(3/800/1300) and flipped Frightfur Chimera(8/2800/2000) upwards. "You brought your dragons. I'll bring mine." She banished Double Fusion from her graveyard to initiate a fusion. of her two two monsters. "Ah?" The Chimera and Imp came together; two dark-types were the materials for this fusion summon. "Come out and play! Starve Venom Fusion Dragon!" Beast and demon were twisted into the shape of a dragon, a violet monstrosity(8/2800/2000) with red and yellow orbs across its body and golden horns to frame its devilish face. "The fourth dragon.." Uno could not look away. Even from this distance he could tell it barely resembled his Odd-Eyes anymore. And his pendant was burning brighter than ever.

Phoebe's LP: 6500

"What is going on?" Cassius gasped as the Fusion Dragon started devouring light and energy. "When Starve Venom is fusion summoned, he will gain the attackpoints of one other monster that was special summoned!" Phoebe's dragon(7600/2000) siphoned its new power from Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon. "Then.." Even if Ichirou's dragon would survive an attack due to Phantom Knights' Sword, Ichirou's lifepoints would not. "There is so much more. My beautiful beast can drain the effects of any level 5 or higher monster on the field!" Phoebe explained as she pointed her claws at Cassius' monster. "No!" HiSpeedroid Kendama was targeted; its effects were copied by Starve Venom. "Kendama can inflict piercing damage. So it can too?" If his synchro monster was attacked, he would lose all his lifepoints. "Looks like I got both you boys at my mercy, ahahaha! How sweet!" The girl licked her fingertips, savoring every second of this. "So, who wants to die first?"

"Hmm." And Ichirou made a split second decision. "Milady, I have an idea. I can't beat you, but you need me.. Let my guild join with yours, and I will concede this card to you. Otherwise.." He took Dark Rebellion dragon from his board and pinched it between his hands. "What?" Cassius flinched. The duelist was threatening to destroy the card! "Oho.. Holding me over a barrel?" Phoebe still had to get the code from the dark dragon. "I like the _cut_ of your jib, Ichirou." She turned her smirk towards Cassius. "No.. wait!" The synchro duelist protested futilely. "Sor-ry, dear-ie!" She sang at him with her sugary voice, as Starve Venom gathered an unholy cluster of bloodred energy in its wings. "It just wasn't your day! Dragon, kill Cassius!" And the beast unleashed its terror. "Gaaahhh!" Cassius was consumed by a venomous light. And that light expanded.

Cassius LP: 0 Ichirou's LP: 0

The castle shook, the entire hill shook. "What the devil is going on?" Iria returned to the scene just in time to view the spectacle up above. "It's the dragon!" Eric shouted. The light between dead and living dragons resonated back and forth while the pendulums glow intensified along with it. "The three dragons, no.. the four dragons are in one place! It's too much power!" Uno tried to keep the energy contained, but his hands could not stop the rays from shooting outwards. "It's happening! It's happening!" Alice cried as the entire castle was illuminated by the four colors. It dominated their vision. "Why? Why can't they be together? Why doesn't it..work?" Uno had to do something, it was his presence that caused the problem. "Stop it. Help me stop it!" He shook the crystal, the core that fueled the chain reaction. "Come on! I know you can.." It provided a solution halfway during his cry for help. All energy and light was pulled to their one location, and it consumed the five people around the pendulum in a quick sudden burst.

...

When Uno opened his eyes again, he saw a familiar place. "...Here?" It was his oldest memory; standing in an open field, surrounded by gravestones and trees as a sun dawned in the east. "A cemetery?" But this was not that moment, this was the present. Adamant was not here last time. Now he was right besides him, dazed and shocked. "What did you do?" So were the others. "Home.." Eric and Alice recognized this area with a single glance, this was their home village. "He.. teleported us. Just like Neter.." Iria had no other explanation. Only a few seconds has passed on the internal clock of her dueldisk, and in that instant they traveled here. "I see." Adamant thought it would have had a more lasting feeling. It was over in the blink of an eye. "I did that?" Uno was amazed the pendulum did what he wanted it to do for once. Like with June's ability, it seemed difficult to control the outcome. Still this was a safe place, far away from the castle and from the duel. This must have been the pendulums way of taking the fourth dragon out of the equation. Hopefully that was enough. Though one question remained.. Why did he come back to this village again?

"Dad!" Alice got up on her feet abruptly and rushed out the graveyard. "Alice, wait!" Uno yelled in vain. She did not slow down as she rushed into the village. The others pursued. "Daddy! I'm here! I'm home!" Her house was right there, the door was open. "Hey.." Eric stopped to check out his own house next door. "This is.. weird." The door to his house was wide open as well. "She would never.." His mother always scolded him if he did not close the door properly. "This is your village. Where is everyone?" Other signs did not look promising either, Adamant had not seen a single soul since they got here. "Dad? Where are you?" Alice wandered her quiet home, looking for any sign of life. "Dad?" She got increasingly more anxious the longer she looked. "This isn't funny, dad." All the rooms were empty. "No.. you can't do this!" She inspected every corner of the house, again and again. "Alice. The house is empty." By the time Uno caught up to her, she was standing in the kitchen, staring out the window. "No.. It's happening again.. They're all leaving me."

"Alice. I told you, I wont leave you. We're here. Your father is somewhere too, and Emily. We can go back and save them." Uno said with a confident smile. Now that he understood his pendulum, there was almost nothing he could not do. "Go..back." She whispered to herself. "You can go back, you can go anywhere... any place..any time." Alice turned her head and looked at Uno with desperation. "You can go back in time, can't you? You can change everything! We can!" Uno's smile faltered. "I.. don't know..if it works that way. I've never gone to the past..." Even if he did, Uno did not know if he could actually change the events that led up to this moment. "But you can go to other worlds! Why don't we do that!? We'll just run away from them all, they wont find us!" She was pleading now, tears formed under her eyes. "I... what am I saying?" She looked away and hugged her sides. "Emily told you everything, didn't she? I'm awful, right? I keep running away.. Mom, dad, sis. I know they're not my real family, but.."

"What _are_ you saying." Adamants booming voice made Alice flinch. "Huh?" He, Iria and Eric were in the room with them now. "Guys. Did you figure out what happened?" Uno asked. "This might be a result of the barrier that the XYZ-guild put up. Some of locations have been evacuated due to their proximity to the generators, and there is one within this region." Iria finally had access to the net again, so she could dig up information on the country's state. No messaged could get in or out the barrier though. "That is not what I wanted to talk about." Adamant cleared his throat. "Alice, I am aware of your feelings. But you need to answer this, it is important. What do you know that you are not telling us?" His question was bigger than she expected. "Eh? Is this about the family thing?" Eric did not get it either. "I will rephrase. Alice, where did you live, before you had your new family?"

"Where?" Alice choked up. "I..I don't know w-wh-what you're talking about. I forgot.." She replied, squirming where she stood. "I do not believe that." He pulled out Roma's card. "You recognized what happened to him. Something terrible happened years ago, and you were there. As difficult as it may be, try to remember." Adamant was insistent. "No. No I don't want to! I don't like it! I hate it, IhateitIhateitIhateitIhate!" She slumped down against the wall and held her hands against her ears, pretending not to hear him. "Hey, don't you think this is taking it a bit far? She's gone through enough!" Eric shouted at the XYZ-duelist as he walked over to her to console her again. "Adamant, what are you insinuating?" Iria wanted to know what was up with his line of questioning as well. ".. You've already unraveled the secret, haven't you?" The only one who did not speak up was Uno, which Adamant noticed. "...Yeah." Uno did not want to say it, but it would be better if he did. "Alice... you're not from this time either, are you?" Her status as a nobody in this world, her obsession with him, Cassius' warnings; it all fit the picture. "What? Uno, that doesn't make any sense!"

"No..." Alice had stopped raving. ".. I didn't want it to be true, but it is. I'm the only one left.. from my world."

(To be Continued in An08X &#,-7XrF5]

 **New Cards used by Cassius  
** _Hi-Speed Re-Force_

 **New Cards used by Ichirou Azora  
** Phantom Knights' Spear

-  
The Phantom Knights of Tomb Shield  
Phantom Knights' Sword

 **New Cards used by Dame Phoebe  
** Starve Venom Fusion Dragon

 _-_  
 _Double Fusion (+)_

-  
Magical Hats

 _(+ Based on the spell used by Judai in YGO GX)_


	88. One Golden Afternoon

**Prologue 1: One Golden Afternoon**

 _It was a Tuesday._

 _Or a Monday. It's hard to tell. I don't remember a lot, I was only... eight. Eight years; half of my life. Only brief moments stand out. There was a town, a park, a river, a house. There were names I lost, of streets and people. There was a school where I went for a few years. But I don't have any feelings left there, of how my first day was. Everything is out of order, I don't know what came first or second or third. Only a few days I cannot forget.._

"Yu-gi-oh?"

 _There was one day, where some kids from school started talking about a game. They said its name was Yu-Gi-Oh, it was apparently a foreign way to say 'King of Games'. I didn;t really understand. But I was curious. I.. never got to play much. I didn't like sports, swimming or stuff like that. I didn't like the games that other kids were making up either, games in the open doors, games of pretend. I don't know why.. I was told it wasn't fun. You could get hurt or hurt someone else, you could ruin your clothes and get yourself dirty, you aren't proving anything. Enough thoughts to make you scared of them.. I liked the games that made you think more, that couldn't hurt anyone. This was one of them. There was something smart about the way you played it. Older kids introduced it, I guess I wanted to be like them._

"No you can't do that! You have to use two of your guys to bring out the big one!"

 _Not everyone got it though. They didn't want to listen to the rules. Summoning monsters without tributes, normal summoning more than once a turn, drawing more than one card each turn; they just wanted to do it their way. The older kids were the same. They did know about the rules, but they didn't care. They cheated where they could, lied to others who weren't experienced enough to realize they were being tricked. Those 'duelists' were only after rare cards. I didn't wanna play against them either, I didn't wanna lose any of my cards. How did I get my cards? Did I have friends? I was picked on a few times, but I don't think anyone hated me.. or liked me. They just didn't talk a lot, to me. It could have been someone who wanted to have someone else to duel against, to talk_ at _me. I can't say how it happened. I do remember the first card I ever held in my hands; Aquaactress Guppy. I liked it.. her. She was pretty and cute. Maybe that's also why I had fun playing it. There were so many cards, so many pretty and colorful pictures. It was more color than I..._

"Alison!"

 _That name, that's my name. The voice that yelled it, was mother. That's what I called her too; mother. And father was father. They had names, I just never learned to use them. And now I can't remember them either. They are just mom and dad, two faces and two voices. They were the ones who told me who I was, what I could be and what I could do and couldn't do. No, they also reminded me of what I_ had _to do I figured that was what every mother and father did for their kid. But they were shouting a lot, at me, at people, at each other. I don't know why. All the time I did something wrong. Playing with other kids and staying out too late was bad, watching cartoons was bad, having pets was bad, reading a lot of books was bad. That was home; grey and quiet. They had a reason, they must have. Maybe they wanted me to become someone great. Maybe they were scared of the outside world and they wanted me to be too. Maybe. I don't know. I thought I could take that, but I couldn't._

 _Wait. I shouldn't be here. This day is just like any other. When it changed, it was earlier. I remember looking for a place of my own. I had no sister or brother, but_ _I was never alone. Mom or dad was always there at home, they never let me go any place by myself. They drove me to school each day, and picked me up each day. Until a day where neither could do it for me. I didn't have a bike yet, so I had to walk. The path to school was not that long or dangerous and many kids used it. My town was not too small, but you couldnd't get lost so easily either. Mom and dad allowed it for one time, they had to. And when I came back safely, they let me do it more often. I could go by myself, I could finally be by myself and do what I wanted! Yet I still didn't feel that way. Even though I know it wasn't true, I thought my parents were watching me all the time. If I took too long to get home, mother would shout my name from the end of the streets. I didn't even get a chance to finish a game of dueling that one time. I wanted to have a place where I could hide, from them or from other people that made me worried. There were so many strangers out there. It was a small town, and still I didn't know anyone. Yes, it was another day, when I finally found a place.._

 _On the road to school there was a shortcut you could take through a park. I took it, because it was something new to see. In the middle of that park was a big tree, with roots all over the ground and leaves that were green even in the winter. If you went inside, behind the leaves and branches, there was nobody who could see you. Light came from above, the blue sky and golden sun seeped through the foliage. In there it was quiet and warm, no matter how cold it was on the outside. It was if it was a completely different part of the world. More than that, it was magical. As long as I stayed there, the clouds didn't change, the sun didn't drop and mom and dad never yelled at me for being late. What felt like hours were just minutes, time was slowed down. I don't know why. That shouldn't have been possible. But what did I know? I was just a kid and I didn't get much about the world. T_ _his magic could simply have been a part of nature. But I didn't want to tell others, I didn't want to share. They wouldn't believe me anyway.._

 _Wait.. how did I find it? I am missing something... There was a shadow, I bumped into it. I said sorry, then I ran away into the park. Who was that? Another man, a bully from school, a strange? Someone who wanted to help me? Or hurt me? Was I afraid? Sad? I don't know. I buried the memory, I must have had a reason. If it's not a happy thought, just discard it... Keep what you like. Keep everything after, I went to that tree every day on my way back home. I took books from the school library and read a chapter each time; hiding the book under a blanket so mom and dad wouldn't find out. I was free in there.._

 _Was it a Tuesday or a Monday? I still can't remember. I wasn't happy, not as happy as I could be. But at least It felt safe inside that spot and that was as good as it got in the end._ _And it had to end. No matter how I place all the puzzle pieces, one is always put down last._

"What really happened. I don't know. I don't know why. I don't want to know why.. I don't, I don't, I, don't..."

 _It happened early, the horizon was still red. I was alone again, just walking to school. It was quiet, very quiet. The park usually was, but not like this. I was supposed to hear the wind through the leaves, the running of the creek. I couldn't hear anything. But It didn't feel wrong, not until I got out of the park. Then.. nothing was right anymore._ "Ah." _Everything had stopped. People were standing in mid-step, cars were frozen on the road, birds were flying without moving._ "Mister. Do you know what is going on?" _Nobody would answer. I tried to talk to the crossing guard in front of the school, but I couldn't even get him to move. He was a statue, he would not budge to the left or the right. Those eyes just kept staring ahead, not feeling or seeing me. They were all like that, even at school. Every kid and teacher, everyone on TV or the radio, they were trapped doing what they_ had been doing when it began. When 'it' ended. "Please. Anyone. Help.." _It... was time. Time had stopped. I knew.. because there was a clock on the wall. Its handle did not move. It was early in the morning, and it wasn't getting any later. This wasn't what I wanted. I was finally alone._

 _Then I wasn't.._

 _I don't know why. I don't know where they came from. But suddenly they were in town, seemingly everywhere. They were these strange ships, they looked like large insects or seashells. Though they had different shapes they all had the same blue diamond and yellow ball on their bodies._ _They flew over every building, throwing light over them like a lantern. And then they did.. it. They made it disappear. They made all of it disappear. The people, the cars and the birds. Everything that was caught in the light, just went away. And there was nowhere to hide. Even the kids, my classmates, inside the building were taken. It wasn't even like they left something behind. My teacher stood in front of the schoolboard when her turn came. She vanished, the floor she stood on vanished, the air in between her vanished. Only a hole remained, and it hurt to look at it. Nothing, I saw nothing._

"Mommy, Dad!"

 _They didn't see me, I don't know why. Maybe this was a dream, maybe I was dreaming? I hoped so, I really hoped so. I ran, I ran as fast as I could. I wanted to get back home. I thought, for some reason, that I would be safe there. That they wouldn't get me or my mom and dad. More of the town was falling apart, entire buildings turned into dust and traveled up into the air. They took the south, the east, the west.. and the north._ "No!" _I was almost there, my house was right there. But they took that too._ "No! No! No!" _A single ship moved over the street and destroyed everything I had seen for as long as I lived. I didn't know if my mom and dad were inside when it happened. If they knew it was going to happen, if they had the chance to run. Why was it just me? Why didn't they see me too? Did they see me?_ "Aaahhh!" _I couldn't help it, I had to scream. They heard me, they must have. They were getting closer, one of them was coming my way..._

 _I didn't want to go._

 _I always had that idea that nothing would ever happen to me. I knew people could get hurt, I knew people could get sick and never get better. They could die. Somehow I didn't think it could happen to me too, why would it? What did I do to anyone? Why were they doing this? Who was doing this? What were they doing? Was everyone dead?_ "Taken by Aliens." _Killed?_ "Traveling to another dimension." _Destroyed?_ "Become invisible?" _That's not what happened!_ "What is going to happen to me?" _I don't know. I didn't know. I didn't want to find out. So I ran again, to the only safe place I had left. I was back in the park, what was left of it. They were getting rid of the earth now, the ground beneath my feet was replaced with nothing. It was difficult to walk, I could fall into a bottomless pit if I missed a step. But I made it, I made it. The tree, the roots; they wouldn't find me here if I hid inside._

 _I was here. The last one, I did not see anything or anyone else. It was empty outside. The whole world was going mad. They got louder, the ground was shaking, the sun was exploding. Up was down and black was white. They were coming. I shut it out; I closed my eyes and covered my ears. It was all a dream, a nightmare. I would wake up any time now, and it would all go back to normal. Closer, closer. Faster, faster. Louder, louder. They couldn't get me, they can't get me, they wont get me. I thought this, over and over, until I couldn't think anymore. Darkness was everywhere, and I disappeared..._

 _I woke up, not in my bed... still in the forest. They put everything back! It never happened! That's what I saw at first. But then I saw.. what didn't return. The tree, it was not the same tree. It was smaller, had differently colored leaves. It looked older. The rest changed too, a little, but enough. There was still a town outside the park, only the people that lived there once had been replaced. There were all new faces, and my face was new to them. They didn't have my name, they couldn't find my mom or dad. I couldn't find my mom and dad. My house was gone, I had nobody left. I didn't know why and neither did anyone else._ _Alison was gone, just like that. I had been dreaming those eight years, living as someone else. The only thing I could keep was that book from the library. But I forgot. It's still lying there, in the woods. I only had me, Alice. I fell down the rabbithole, and I can never get back.._

"Never."

...

"Ali..son." Uno took a step back. _"I had no..."_ Here and now in this town, Alice had told them everything she remembered.. from her past life. She had only given scraps, but to Uno it was like a complete story; like he was then and there. "I..I wanted to tell you sooner. Uno.. I did. But I was scared." Even now, on the verge of tears she blamed herself. "Alis..Alice. You didn;t do anything wrong." Were the only words of comfort Uno could muster. He still had to absorb what this meant for him. "But I did! I ran away! I pretended it never happened! But it was a lie! Mom and dad are gone.. they're never coming back!" She broke down and began to cry. "Hey hey hey. You don't know that! Whatever happened, there must be a way to fix it.. right?" Eric, in spite of his inability to comprehend the entire tale, wanted nothing more than to comfort her. But it would take more than words and hugs. "Right?!" He looked at Uno, since he was fresh out of ideas.

"..." Uno said nothing. It didn't sound hopeful. "The power to deconstruct life and matter, it existed back then too.. Who are these beings?" Adamants worst suspicions had been confirmed, but he was left with more questions than answers. What Alice had described resembled Martels ability to transform people into cards. "Iria. Do you still have your pendulum deck?" Uno, who heard Adamants comments, turned to the others. "The Qliphort deck? Yes. Why do you ask this now?" Though Iria had gone back to wielding her Monarchs, she still kept them close in case their power was required. She gave the cards to Uno. ".. Because I saw them too. Alice. Please help us understand.." Uno's words got her to calm down, briefly. "Huh?" Her eyes darted around to avoid the sight of the cards Uno was holding. "You don't have to look at them. But the machines that Iria used in her duels, did they look like .. Them?"

"How" Alice trembled. "... I.. They're just cards.. But... It _was_ them." After much struggling, she got a response out. "What?!" And it shocked Iria. "The Qliphort.. were the ones who destroyed your.. How is that possible?!" It was too much. Every time she adjusted to one new fragment of this bizarre reality, another showed up. "It's true!" But Alice was not lying, even the disciple could see that. "Those four Travelers. They said the Qliphort existed before UNO made them..." Iria recalled the words of August. She could never have imagined that they were speaking the truth, or that these cards were such devastating entities. "Hey. Is this why.. " Eric turned back to Alice. "When you saw Iria's duel in the tournament." He remembered now that she had freaked out before her own duel. But that was also right after Iria's first duel with her Qliphort cards. "Ye.. yes. I did recognize them, but I didn't want to think it was true.. I thought it was just a coincidence. It was so long ago. It was easier to pretend I was wrong." She was happier that way. Not anymore. "But.. how did you know, Uno?"

"Good question." Adamant looked to Uno for some clarification on the matter. "I.. I don't really know. I just saw it. While Alice was us about her past, images flashed through my head every time I blinked or closed my eyes. I could see what was happening.. I could see those things, those machines." It went even deeper than that. The story Alice gave did not have the details and thoughts that now ran through Uno's head. He got those by himself. Her experience felt like his own, like he had been there with her. "You saw her past, and read her thoughts?" This sounded familiar to Iria. "You.. have the same power as the Travelers?" Uno was not the first to have psychic abilities, nor the first to have eyes that could see events that had already transpired. "Ah." Of course, it was the pendulum. Uno'd been using it without knowing about it. "But that doesn't happen unless..."

"Unless we're near you." Neter suddenly popped into the house. "Wha!" He didn't give them a chance to do as little as flinch, before he took them all away by warping them to the outside. "No!" The only one to even get the chance to offer resistance was Uno, who grabbed his pendulum. It lit up along with Neters crystal. "Guh.." The five duelists were still in the same position, but now they were on the main town road. "Aww he got in the way again. I wanted to take them further than this." And they were surrounded by Neter, June, August... and December. "Then this shall be the last time he stands in our way."

(To be Continued in Annex 088: Away from Now)


	89. Away from Now

**Annex 088: Away from Now**

"You guys again!? Are you here for a fight?" Eric instinctively rose as soon as his mind processed that the 'Zodiac travelers' were standing there in front of them all. "You wanna play again? It didn't go so well the last time!" Neter was eager to answer his provocation. "We have better things to do than waste the minutes on you." For once August was the one who declined the opportunity for a duel. "Such as?" Iria could imagine a dozen reasons for their sudden arrival, two of those reasons were among the duelists standing in the street. "Since our previous encounter, the four of us have done some 'investigating'.. Outside of time and space, so to speak. It was important to confirm the existence of the second timeline, to understand the cause and to discover which world held the irregularity." June directed her attention towards Uno. "We came back to this time, this moment, because of the imbalance you created. We now know there are two irregularities in this town, you.. and the girl." Her finger fell on Alice. "N-No!" She closed her eyes and refused to listen.

"You did not know about the second timeline? I was told that you had the ability to travel through time, how could you have missed it?" If Adamant accepted that they truthfully did come from another future, he also had to accept that there was yet another timeline which the guilds had not found yet. These four were definitely not the type to live by normal hours. "We do not have to tell you anything!" August growled at him. "Then neither do we." Adamant growled right back. "Oh. You're just as grumpy as August." Neter laughed. The two sides seemed to be at a stalemate, until Decembers voice rang through. "Tell them." That was their leaders one and only command. "What? We can't do that. They already know too much as it is! I thought we were here to.." Augusts protests were loud yet brief, as December gave him a penetrating glare. "Alright. If you _deem_ it necessary, December."

August rolled up his sleeve. "But just telling you will take too long. So I will show you.." He grit his teeth and concentrated deeply. The crystal on his belt began to glow, and so did his arm. "It's the symbol again!" The mark of a dragon appeared on his skin, the same mark he had seen when he dueled August. "You have never seen anything like this before, have you?" August asked the whole group. None of them said a word, which he took to mean 'no'. "Exactly. That is because a power like this has never been forged in your world. This mark is from a time that was forgotten, my time. We spring from a future no longer in existence, we told you this already. But we each come from separate futures. Each world had a champion, an heir to a great and unique power. Because of that power, we were chosen.. by him." August pointed at December. "He was the first, he survived the crisis that destroyed his dimension. He traveled back in time to chase after the one who caused the destruction; Tempus. In time he gathered more allies; us."

"Wait,wait,wait. Now there's more timelines? Some older than others? How does that work? Dont they all exist at the same.. well time?" Erics could not begin to wrap his head around all this information. "Time is not like a single line, Stoney-well. It goes back and forth, like a loop-de-loop!" Neter happily jumped into the explanation. "There's an infinite amount of possible worlds, but only one can be. You don't really travel through time, you just reverse or fast-forward it.. and only you remember what was changed. But sometimes you go back so far, even the smallest misstep can turn the world upside-down! When that happens, there is no future for the old anymore.. Everything will get overwritten. That is what happened to your friend." He turned the focus on Alice. "What?" She twitched. She could not shut him out. "You're from waaay back for these people, probably from one of the timelines we chased Tempus through. Every time we follow Tempus, he slips away into the past, and everything he leaves gets destroyed and forgotten by time."

"But..but I saw the machines.. They took everyone away." She said with a shivering voice. The memories were as clear as the day now. "What you saw where no machines, they were the Guardians of time." June proclaimed with a reverent tone. "Guardians?" Eric sputtered. "Think of them as angels; beings outside time and space that control the damage that timetravel can create. If one time has to be erased, they freeze the world and purge everything. That you, Alice, saw them at all is a miracle, you were already out of sync during that event. Somehow you came across a pocket of frozen time in your area. It gave you a temporary immunity from the Guardians powers. If I were to guess, which I don't often do, that 'pocket' was a consequence of your timeline already being temporally damaged. Tempus had already abandoned it." As she spoke, Uno was starting to see images in his mind. "Wait. Those guardians.. I met one... There was one like a giant stone with a big eye at the middle." He hadn't put two-and-two together until just now.

"We have all seen them." Iria eyed her Qliphort cards. "So you discovered that too? Well now you know why your creator, UNO, is a fraud. All he did was recreate the cards for this new timeline." August snorted. "If he could replicate what they looked like, he had to be aware of the guardians. It would also explain how UNO can communicate with this timeline. Only those who freed from time can see them without harm. For instance, if you have a pendulum." June gave her earring a slight nudge. "Wait. You know for a fact that UNO is from the other timeline?" That had been a running theory of Uno, but there was no way to be sure of that. "We traced every image of this world. He cannot be found here." Unless of course you had teleporters and psychics on your team. "I knew it. And I guess the Guardian kicked me back to my timeline back when my pendulum threw me into limbo?" At least that made sense to Uno now, slightly.

"..I want to get back to my earlier question." Adamant coughed. "What do you want from us?" All this story was fine, but time was not an unlimited resource to half the people here. "To find Tempus." December replied. "Yeah. Guess he was tired of being chased by us. Every time he changes the past, we are right there with him. First there was December with his crystal that could travel through time. Then there was June with her magical eye, who could make sure we would never forget what everyone else did. Then August and his tattoo gave us eternal strength and youth. Which was nice too. Did you know I am actually 1000 years old?" Neter waited for the looks of surprise to set in. "Nah, just kidding. I'm only 19. I think? It's hard to tell when you dont do days the normal way. Anyway, I was the last to join. I had my special gift, wherever I wanted to be, I could be. Any place would be my 'Utopia'" He said with a wink. "So we're the perfect team. No matter when Tempus goes, we find him in the end and stop his plans. Only this time he cheated! He jumped back in one time and we jumped back in the other! He made two worlds at once somehow!"

"And that is the problem. You cannot have two timelines at once, they will destroy each other. You already discovered that and tried to fix it yourselves, didn't you?" June looked at Adamant, as if she was judging him. "Anyway. The fact that this world still exists means Tempus has not jumped back in time yet. He had us fooled, we had no idea this could even be done. Our thought now is that he did not travel alone, he might not have been alone for some time. UNO has to be one of his allies, a man who perpetuates the cycle of the cards. If this is true, it is possible for him to forced something else back in time with him. He would go one way, and someone else.. would come this way." Her eyes fell on Alice again. "Why..why are you looking at me? I..I do not know any Tempuses." She stammered. "That time pocket you found saved you and you alone, Alice. When Tempus left your world, and the guardians erased it, you were left behind. Eventually you had to come back to linear time, who knows how many timelines you skipped in between. I suppose that bubble you were in took a while to become stable, to form a one-way portal. Allthough for you it seemed to to look like a few seconds. Either way, _you_ might be what caused this world to exist. There is no way to determine 'when' the branching happened. But the first provable difference is you. There is only one of you, there is no Alison in this world or Uno's world. It wasn't Uno's pendulum that protected you from us. It was you, you were already like us.""

"... You're here for her." Uno concluded and immediately stepped in between them and Alice. "Her presence here is causing an instability. That is why you ended up here, Uno. Her surroundings are temporally damaged, that made her town the weak point between the two worlds, a weak point for you to break through. The second time you were lost, you used her as a focal point, didn't you?" He loathed to admit it, but June was right on the money. It was something else he had failed to realize until now, the pendulum was drawn towards her. "But I didn't want to hurt anyone." Alice said weakly. "That may be so. But we need more time, and you are a danger to that time." August grunted. He was getting impatient. "So what? What are you going to do? Send her back?!" Eric did not comprehend a third of what had just been said, but he did understand that Alice had no time to go back to. "Not that. Alice, you have to become like us, disconnected from time." June slowly approached the girl. "But..than I'd have to.." Alice tried to hide behind the others. "I know, you will have to leave this world. It is the only way.." The woman extended her hand. "You have to come with us."

"No." Uno declared, still standing in front of Alice. "No? You cannot say No to this! Did you listen at all? Even that Cassius person you were with earlier understood the danger!" August angrily shook his hand at Uno. But the duelist remained inflexible. "I did. I get what he wanted to say now. And if I see him again, I will tell him what I am telling you now. You can chat about dimensions, timelines and Tempus as many times as you want, but I believe in what I can touch and see first. I see a girl who lost everything else and finally found a new family. She has lived here for years and loved it. If she wants to stay, she can stay with me. I have a pendulum too." Uno took the crystal out. "The four of you, me, we all don't belong here. This is what keeps us safe, right?!" Uno had seen the pendulum protect others as well; it had to work for Alice. "Your belief is that you can control that power?" This confrontational stance prompted December to step forward. "You cannot fathom its potential." He stated dismissively. "I don't know, I am a fast learner. A live demonstration should prove that to youl!" The pendulum duelist anticipated how they would resolve this, so he beat them to the punch. "For weeks now I have been pulled from one side to the other, played with like a pawn on a chessboard. I am tired of it, I am going to do what I want to do! December. I challenge you to a duel!"

"Dude, no!""You can not win against these people!" Eric and Iria shouted respectively. "Uno.. you don't have to.." Alice was similarly horrified by his ultimatum. "Alice. I promised you before, if I can help you.. anyone..I will. I remember nothing about who I was before you, before everyone here. I am not going to betray that now by turning a promise into a lie." Uno went one step further and took out his dueldisk and cards. "He's really going for it!" Neter was giddy with excitement. "Let me crush him for you, December! I still owe him!" August was halfway prepared to rise to the challenge. "No." But December was the one Uno had provoked, December would be his opponent. "Uno of the magicians. You think you have hope, but I have already seen your defeat. Walk away now, this is your final chance." December took out his dueldisk and flipped it open. "Thanks, but I am not changing my mind. We're doing it now and here." Out in the streets of the abandoned town where he first woke up; there was no better place to close the circle. "December, it is Showtime!"

Decembers LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 8000

"Scale 4 D/D/D Doom King Armageddon at the left, Scale 6 D/D Cerberus at the right. Seal them in" December initiated the duel and had two pendulum monsters set for his pendulum zones in no time at all. "Pendulum Summon!" With those scales he could special summon level 5 monsters from his hand. "D/D Pandora, in defense position!" He summoned a redveiled demoness(5/1700/2100) that had black belts over her arm and face, and a jar-like lower body. "D/D Cerberus, empower Pandora." The three-headed pendulum beast could activate its spell effect. It boosted Pandora(4/2100/2500) with a blast of hellfire, while lowering her level by one star. "These are your obstacles for the first turn. Now you will show me your answer." December placed a spell card face-down and terminated his turn. "Reading ahead a little? Well, I don't mind." Uno drew his card. "The best way to fight pendulums is with pendulums! Iria taught me that!" Uno placed two cards in both pendulum zones. "I set the scales, Performapal Guitartle and Performapal Drummerilla!" With a second performapal placed, the Guitartle's effect drew one card for Uno. And this would only be the beginning.

"Wavering Eyes." Unfortunately Decembers future had something else in store. "Wavering what?" December activated an unfamiliar quickplay spell. "Wavering Eyes destroys all pendulum spell cards on the field, and activates a number of effects depending on how many cards were destroyed." June explained as the spell wiped out D/D Cerberus, D/D/D Armageddon, Drummerilla and Guitartle. "Ack!" Simultaneously, Uno lost 500 of his lifepoints. "So four effects will activate?" The first effect inflicted effect damage. The second placed a new Pendulum monster, D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok, from Decembers deck into his hand. The third banished one card on the field, but December skipped that effect as Uno had nothing on his field yet. The final effect added a new 'Wavering Eyes' to Decembers hand. "Already you suffer for using that what you do not understand."

Uno's LP: 7500

"Eh, you won that chain, but the turn is not over yet!" Uno normal summoned a new monster, a masked jester(4/1800/800) in a purple/black outfit. "Meet Performapal Skullcrobat Joker! When I normal summon him, I get to put a Performapal, Magician or Odd-Eyes monster to my hand!" Uno added old reliable Odd-Eyes. "And say hi to Performapal Helprincess as well!" As Uno had normal summoned a Performapal, the vixen princess(4/1200/1200) could special summon herself from Uno's hand. "You stopped my pendulum summon, but I have other acts in my repertoire! Like... XYZ-summon!" He overlayed the Joker acrobat with the Hell princess. "Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon!" The black XYZ-dragon(4/2500/2000) was recreated, despite what everyone had seen happen to it. "One of the copies?" Adamant was surprised, until he remembered that Ichirou had returned the copies of Dark Rebellion to Uno's deck. "Yeah, thanks to Uno's printer. And I am guessing this dragon has its own story from a past timeline, right?" Uno detached the two materials from the XYZ-dragon, so that it(3550/2000) could drain away half of Pandora(1050/2500)'s power. "It might just be a copy of a copy now, but maybe some of that power stuck with it. Let's see... Dark Rebellion, attack!"

Uno's monster struck and destroyed Decembers monster with an overdose of dark thunder. "D/D Pandora's power activates when she is destroyed while I control no other cards; I draw two cards." As she died, Pandora opened the lock on her lower body and opened it like a treasure chest to reveal a pair of cards. "Crap. He wanted Uno to destroy her?" Eric figured, and feared, that Uno was just playing along with whatever December had predicted. "This guy can see every past and every future, and I somehow still don't believe this is a lost cause.. Maybe because your pendulums already showed that they arent all-powerful." They had failed to cure Uno's amnesia after all. "Wait a second.." And that put an idea in Uno's head. "I just realized something about you December." He said triumphantly as he ended his battle phase. "That is?" December waited for the answer, even though he already knew what Uno was going to say. "That you are like me. Your friends said it themselves, before you met June you had no way of keeping memories from time-jumps. So that must mean you do not remember what your original world was like! Am I right?"

"... Your facts are correct. I cannot recall all of my past, June could only restore fragments." December admitted freely. "But your conclusion is wrong. You and I are not alike. I have still lived centuries since then, fought kings and gods. You are nothing compared to that. The choice you made made no difference. You may try to stray from the path, but any future I see leads to your defeat. Your actions merely shortened the chain of events. You are getting stronger, certainly. And that is also why we came here, to stop this flow of power. Before you become a threat,we will take your pendulum from you. Then you will hand us the girl and bring us to your world."

"You're going to take away his pendulum if he loses? No. Uno, you shouldn't.. risk that. I'm just.." Hearing his words, Alice just slipped further into sorrow. She did not want Uno to lose everything just to make her happy. "Hey. Alice. You're not just someone. You're a friend. And that as all I need." Uno placed a trap card down and activated Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in one pendulum zone. Then when his turn ended, he could tribute Odd-Eyes to add Wisdom-Eye Magician from his deck to his hand. "Ready when you are, December! Show me that future of yours!"

(To be Continued in Annex 089: D-Day)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Performapal Skullcrobat Joker

 **New Cards used by December  
** D/D Pandora

-  
Wavering Eyes


	90. D-Day

**Annex 089: D-Day**

Decembers LP: 8000 Uno's LP: 7500

In the showdown of pendulum-dueling timetravelers, Decembers second turn began. He activated his continuous spell, Dark Contract with the Gate. With it, December added D/D Barfomet from his deck to his hand. "You are not the only one to have incorporated all forms of special summoning into his deck. D/D Swirl Slime, fuse with Berfomet!" By using the effect of the Swirl Slime, he could fusion summon a D/D fusion monster without a spell. "No. He is going to.." Alice shuddered as she recalled the same sequence that he had terrorized her with. "Be reborn, D/D/D Flame King Genghis!" This time though he created a hellfire king(6/2000/1500), wielding a sword and shield.

"Appear, D/D Night Howl. Return D/D Berfomet to me!" The next link was the demonic jaw-tuner(3/300/600). Normal summoning it started the effect to special summon a lowlevel D/D monster from the graveyard; Berfomet(4/0/0) the chimera with two right arms and a left devil-wing. "A tuner? Is he actually going to.." Before the words could leave Erics mouth, December performed his synchronization. "Rise again, Gust King Alexander!" Night Howl and Berformet tuned their seven stars and the emperor of the wind(7/2500/2000) was reborn. "He controls synchro monsters as well?" Iria cried out.

"Genghis, Alexander, name your servants!" Once each turn, when a D/D monster was special summoned, Genghis could summon one of the dead D/D monsters. Alexander could so the same for any level 4 or lower D/D monster in the graveyard. The synchro-summoning of the Gust King made the fused Flame King resurrect D/D Pandora(5/1700/2100). That special summon in turn allowed Alexander to revive Berfomet(4/1400/1800) once more. "Equalize, Pandora and Berfomet!" Finally there was D/D Berfomets effect. It could modify any other D/D monsters level to a number between 1 and 8. He gave Pandora(4/1700/2100) a single level reduction. "Oh no way.." And for the second time in the same minute Eric was blown away, when December overlayed his two monsters. "Come now, D/D/D Wave king Caesar!" The lord of the sea(4/2400/1200) joined the lords of fire and wind. "Incredible." Adamant had seen a lot of duelists in his time, and he had never seen anything like this.

"To me, D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok!" Still, December was not finished. He banished Swirl Slime from his graveyard and activated its effect. The slime special summoned a D/D monster from his hand; a horned emperor of darkness(8/2200/3000), seated on his throne. "One life to banish another." Abyss Ragnarok activated its second power. It grabbed Flame King Genghis with its pendulum-tipped ribbons and crushed it. "Dark Rebellion, disappear and never return." The Oblivion lord now sent the same ribbons after the XYZ-dragon(4/3550/2000) and strangled the life out of it. Dark Rebellion was banished completely. "That guy has a removal effect?" Uno was defenseless and the remaining lords saw their chance. "...!" Wordlessly, December ordered his direct attack. The Wave King Caesar was the first to strike. "Well this is a pinch, so let me just activate Performapal Pinch Helper!" And Uno responded immediately by revealing a continuous trap. "Guess what? Your direct attack is negated! And I can summon a Performapal from my deck!" The trap summoned Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer(4/1500/800) in defense mode.

"Is this amusing you?" Instantly, December followed up the first attack by having Ragnarok slice up Kaleidoscorp. "It shouldn't." Finally The Gust King attacked Uno. "G-ghf!" The performing duelist was hit bye the blunt edge of Alexanders sword, causing him to fall face-first to the ground. "Hrheh.. Ow." Uno lay on the ground, his body aching all over. "Uno, please stop! He isn't playing a game, he's just going to hurt you!" Alice couldn't bare to watch anymore. "Hey. It's fine. A little method acting is all." Uno pushed the pain aside. If he couldn't keep up his spirit for her and the others, he might as well give up. "What else you got, December?" The duelist in him was standing strong. "... The end." And December, after he placed two cards face-down in the spell/trap zone, relinquished control to his opponent.

Uno's LP: 5000

"Well. Black, purple, white and orange/blue. I can work with those colors.." Uno drew his next card, a spell card. "..I activate Pendulum Call! For one card I get two Pendulum Magicians! What a deal!" He used the spell to discard Wisdom-Eye Magician. The two newly searched Magicians were quickly revealed. "I set the scales, Wisdom-Eye Magician and Xiangsheng Magician!" The insightful sage and the female archer appeared in pillars on both sides of the field. "Uh oh. Guess he already forgot!" On the sidelines Neter broke into laughter as Decembers counter was easy to predict. Decembers flipped his second Wavering Eyes. "That fool." August snorted. This would be the second time Uno lost his pendulum spells. "Oh but you should have learned one of my shows rules; never try the same trick on me twice!" Uno responded with his own quickplay spell. "Pendulum Impenetrable! You can't destroy my pendulums this turn!" The Impenetrable spell protected both Xiangsheng and Wisdom-Eye from the Wavering Eyes. "Now them, can I continue?"

"Yes then! Okay, since I have another Magician in my pendulum zone, I can use Oafdragons spell effect to add a Pendulum monster Magician to my hand! Can you guess which one?!" Uno pulled Noble Dragon Magician from his deck. "It is time, I Pendulum Summon!" Oafdragon Magician had the 2nd scale. Xiangsheng Magician had the 8th, as long as December controlled more cards than Uno. "Go my Performapals, my Magicians and Odd-Eyes." Nobledragon Magician(3/700/1400) was summoned from the hand. Odd-Eyes(7/2500/2000), Pendulum Sorcerer and Drumerilla(6/1600/900) were summoned from the extra deck in defense mode. "Pendulum Sorcerer, take your pick!" As the Sorcerer had been special summoned, it could destroy one of Uno's cards, Performapal Drummerilla, to find Performapal Trump Girl card in the deck and bring it to Uno. "Now I already showed everyone my XYZ-monster. Next in line.. synchro monsters!" Uno took his tuner, Nobledragon Magician, and tuned it with Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer. "With just seven levels from one tuner and one nontuner, I can make Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" The crimson red dragon(7/2500/2000) appeared in attack mode. But, when the nontuner synchro material wasn't a dragon-type, Nobledragon Magician shuffled itself back into the deck.

"Dom.." Iria couldn't stop herself from thinking about the man who made this all possible. "Yeah, say what you want about the guy, but he helped me in the end. I can't give up for his sake either." Uno had to find Dom again, somehow. "Meteorburst's effect lets me summon a pendulum monster from the pendulum zone! Though Meteorburst wont be able to attack anymore this turn." The Synchro dragon targeted the Oaf Magician, putting the wind mage(6/2100/1400) in the front row. "And when Oafdragon is summoned, he returns one Magician or OddEyes card to me." Uno used his effect to reclaim the card he had discarded at the start, Wisdom-Eye Magician. "But of course, there is one more color to go... Let's bring it in!" Uno had a normal summon left, he used it to bring out Performapal Trump Girl(2/200/200). "Trump Girl can force a fusion between herself and another monster! I fuse her with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The tiny jester and the great dragon were tossed into the fusion maelstrom.

"Is it gonna be Rune-Eyes?" Eric wondered. That fusion dragon could be made from Odd-Eyes Dragon and a spellcaster. Yet Uno suddenly had a new idea. "One Odd-Eyes and one Pendulum monster. Put them together.. and you get Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon!" This was new, to everyone. The dragon(7/2500/3000)'s spikes transformed into metallic bird wings and its armor scales gained a green hue. "Odd-Eyes Vortex pushes one attack-position monster off the field! I choose Alexander!" The dragon dragged its claw through the air, raising a whirlwind of energy and thunder that enveloped the synchro D/D/D. Uno appreciated the irony; having the Gustking be returned to the extra deck by his own element. "And then he attacks Abyss Ragnarok!" With a more direct blast of lightning, the dragon incinerated the Oblivion lord and his throne.

Decembers LP: 7700

"I thought.. How.. did you do that?!" This time, Iria couldn't make heads or tails of Uno's new acquisition. This dueldisk of Uno did not have a printer in it anymore, nor had he created it before hand. "The power to create.. that was something that existed in the times before." June was able to shed some light on the subject. "Create? So like you can make your own cards?" Eric was more than slightly skeptical. "The cards tell stories that have been forgotten, Eric. We are one of the few who remember their origins. Some stories may not be true or have been based on the fantasies of that world, but others are real. That is the one thing connecting everything. No matter where Tempus goes, the cards follow." She explained. "So that Scarlight Dragon of yours.." Iria looked at August. "Is one of them. His story is as old as I am. The power of my mark, January and his 'Light', June and her Piece; we all can manipulate destiny'. So.." August turned an angry glare towards Uno. "How is it that you can do the same?"

"Dunno. Amnesia, remember? Every time it happens, it feels like I am reminding myself of a card I forgot." Uno shrugged and ended his turn. "Your memories. Not even June could repair them..." December paused before drawing his card. He sounded almost wistful. "There should be something there." He drew his card and switched to the standby phase. In this phase, the Dark Contract took 1000 lifepoints from its user as was its cost. December didn't show any sign of being affected by this lifeforce drain. "To me, Lilith." He reactivated the Dark Contract with the Gate. With it, December added the D/D monster Lilith to his hand. Then he activated a face-down trap card; Dark Contract with the Witch. Now that he had cards to discard, he could use his trap against Uno. "Hold on there! I didn't tell you about Vortex Dragons other ability." Uno snatched Performapal Guitartle from his extra deck. "Once a turn, Vortex can negate a spell, trap or monster effect by shuffling a face-up extra deck pendulum monster back into the main deck!" The Green dragon short-circuited the continuous trap and destroyed it.

Decembers LP: 6700

"I knew." December claimed as he in turn pulled one monster from his extra deck. "Once is not enough." That card, an XYZ-monster, was placed on top of Wave King Caesar. "Rank-up as well?" Adamant was stunned to see a rank 5 monster that could be XYZ-summoned by using a rank 4 DDD-monster as the base. It was a greenhaired bowman(5/2300/2000) with a half-eaten apple for a torso. "Of course. My universe invented that trick!" Neter said with his big grin. "It begins, D/D/D Marksman King Tell. I have suffered this turn, so make my enemy suffer." Tell's full power was unlocked during a turn in which its duelist took effect damage. It could target an opponents monster, drain 1000 of its attackpoints, and inflict the same amount of damage in one turn. "Aah!" A golden arrow was fired right through Odd-Eyes Vortex(1500/3000) and then Uno himself. "Perish, dragon of fusion." With the same wolf-faced bow, the Marksman fired a blast of flames that burned to Vortex Dragon down to the ground. "Guh.. Ha! I am fine! See? No hole." Uno quickly assured Alice as he patted his chest.

Uno's LP: 3200

"Who are you trying to fool, Uno? Her or yourself? Your act favors no-one. You do not honor the past, if you pretend to be something you are not." December placed D/D Lilith and a trap card face-down and ended his turn. "Oh yeah? Shows what you know! I do honor my past, by caringabout what and who I know! I don't know who I used to be. I tried to find out, I tried to force back memories. All I got was dreams, nightmares and vague warnings. I feel like an actor who never got his script, and I almost lost everything just to get a few answers. So, you'll have to forgive me if I just wing it from time to time." Uno drew his card. "You guys do care about the past, but what about the present? What about this world right here and now? You keep hopping from moment to moment, skipping everything in the middle. You haven't lived here like.. like Alice has. And you're going to decide what should happen to her? No, you don't get to write her future!"

"...Oh. Lost myself for a minute there." Uno took a deep breath. He did not want to snap like he had done in the past, he had to stay himself. "Let's give you you more of those special cards you love so much; a blast from the recent past!" Uno placed Wisdom-Eye Magician in the empty pendulum zone and activated its effect. The Mage tributed himself to be replaced with Xiangke Magician. "The magicians of creation and destruction are here! I will pendulum summon my old cast!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer and Wisdom-Eye Magician(4/1500/1000) were special summoned from the extra deck, between the scale 3 Xiangke and the scale 8 Xiangsheng. "Exit the stage, Pendulum Sorcerer!" Uno let the Sorcerer destroy himself and take a Performapal Secondonkey card from the deck. "Take over, Secondonkey!" The donkey(4/1000/2000) was normal summoned in his place. This Performapal, while in the presence of 2 Pendulum zone spells, searched another Performapal to Uno's hand; Performapal _. "XYZ-summon!" Afterwards the Donkey and the Insightful Sage came together, and a rank 4 monster was placed on top of their pile; his second and also last Dark Rebellion XYZ Dragon(4/2500/2000).

"Uh oh." Neter intoned. The current field set-up looked worryingly familiar. "Xiangke, Xiangsheng." The duo of creation and destruction unleashed their effects. Xiangsheng modified the XYZ Dragons Rank, so that It(7/2500/2000), mirrored the level of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Xiangke transformed the XYZ-monsters Rank stars into Level stars. "I XYZ-summon my Pendulum XYZ-monster; Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon!" Odd-Eyes placed itself above Dark Rebellion. The two level 7 Dragons became one, mixing their dark and blue energy to shape the most powerful being in Uno's deck, the Odd-eyed black dragon(7/3000/2500). "December, it's time to wrap this up! Odd-Eyes, destroy his monsters!" December had at least one lowlevel monster on the field, D/D Lilith. Even if she was face-down, the XYZ-dragon would destroy her and gain two additional attacks.

"D/D/D Human Resources!" But then December flipped a trap card that took D/D Lilith away. "Wheh?" Two cards were also recovered from the graveyard; D/D Pandora and D/D/D Genghis. "D/D/D Human Resources sends three D/D monsters from anywhere, back to the deck. And it then puts two new D/D monsters in his hand." June said. The 'resources' added to Decembers hand were D/D/D Rebel King Leonidas and D/D Savant Galilei. "I am afraid December is also someone who never lets the same trick work against him twice." She smiled sympathetically. "Great.." Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon failed to destroy a single card, so it was stuck with its one regular attack this battle phase. "Rgh. I switch all my monsters to attack position and start the battle with Odd-Eyes Rebellion!" The black dragon used that attack to run the D/D/D Marksman through with its claws and teeth. Its flight across the field blew fierce winds across the village. December did not yield and inch. "Oafdragon Magician, Odd-Eyes Meteorburst!" The brutish mage and the crimson dragon barraged the enemy with wind spells and meteor blasts. December still stood his ground, despite the catastrophic damage his lifepoints were taking. "..I set two cards, end turn." It could have been better, it should have been.

Decembers LP: 1400

"That card as well. You obtained it at a point in which your pendulum was restored. Two feats no normal duelist can perform. When we left you last time, we tried to understand how this could have transpired. No matter where we looked, we did not get the answer. Tell us." December asked not too friendly. "Can't your psychic just read his mind to figure it out?" Eric retorted. "I already did, something stops me from seeing those particular memories. I _can_ see how he told you the same story about the three sisters." June looked at Eric and Iria with their unshielded minds. "You do not believe it?" Iria had wondered about the truthfulness of Uno's story herself. "Hey, I was being honest to them and to you! Now leave my friends alone. Until this duel ends, you are dealing with me." Uno did not want June to start digging into their brains. He ended his turn so December could continue. "Friends. They are precisely what made you weak, Uno." December finally started his turn. He took 1000 points of damage due to the Dark Contract of the Gate.

Decembers LP: 400

"Come, D/D/D Rebel King Leonidas! Reverse the time of grief and harm!" That effect damage was what enabled the effect of a D/D/D monster. The Spartan king(7/2600/1300), with his full golden armor and red cape, could special summon himself from Decembers hand to restore those lost lifepoints, and also negate any further effect damage that would be inflicted to the duelist. "If you had just been by yourself, you could have kept running. You are in this position now due to them. Why tether yourself to one world, if it is doomed to die?"

Decembers LP: 1400

"No friends? Then what do you call your accomplices? If they are the only people you know.." Adamant inquired. December was not alone here. "We did not meet as friends. Far from it. But he needed us and we needed him to survive." August unequivocally did not talk like someone who was close friends with December. "Their powers were great, and ancient. Just like mine. Some might call it 'funny', that in all these infinities, there never was a pendulum duelist like me. Until this universe. UNO, Tempus; someone made sure that the art of pendulum summon returned." December reactivated the Dark Gate; to claim a D/D Savant Kepler card. "You are a breakthrough, Uno. Yet I have been dueling with them for more decades than I can remember; possibly centuries. No, I do not remember if I had friends, Uno. I do not look back at what is unneeded. I look ahead and I see threats to time that must be removed!" December placed two cards. "Arise, D/D Savant Galilei and D/D Savant Kepler!" They were two statue pendulum monsters; one with planetary spheres orbiting it, the other with a telescope-lens body. They had a scale of 1 and 10. "The End comes, no matter how much you and your friends may protest! I.. PENDULUM.. SUMMON!"

(To be Continued in Annex 090: For the Last Time)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon

 **New Cards used by December  
** D/D Berfomet  
D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok  
D/D/D Rebel King Leonidas  
D/D Savant Galilei  
D/D Savant Kepler

D/D/D Flame King Genghis  
D/D/D Marksman King Tell

-  
D/D/D Human Resources


	91. For the Last Time

**Annex 090: For the Last Time**

Decembers LP: 1400 Uno's LP: 3200

"PENDULUM SUMMON!" The pillars of light were cast, D/D Savant Galilei and D/D Savant Kepler swung the pendulum from scale 1 to 10. "Return to me Kings of Oblivion and Doom, return D/D Cerberus!" D/D/D Abyss Ragnarok(8/2200/3000), D/D/D Armageddon(8/3000/1000) and D/D Cerberus(4/1800/600) were summoned from the extra deck, joining D/D/D Rebellion King Leonidas(7/2600/1200) on the streets of battle. "Lord Ragnarok, return the Wave King to me!" The last monster zone would be filled too. A summoned Abyss Ragnarok could special summon any D/D/D monster from the graveyard. December chose the XYZ-demon; D/D/D Wave King Caesar(4/2400/1200). "Oh no, we're not doing that dance again!" If nothing was done about it, Abyss Ragnarok would banish Uno's Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon(7/3000/2500) just by sacrificing one of Decembers monsters. "How about this instead? Performapal Showdown!" Luckily, Uno had his trap. With it he could flip two monsters face-down, one for each spell card on his field. "That fortune shall not repeat either, your Xiangsheng Magician is shattered!" Unluckily, December had foreseen this and activated a quickplay spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon, to destroy Uno's scale 8 pendulum Magician. "One will do!" With one less spell, Uno could only flip Abyss Ragnarok face-down.

"I saw that too, Uno. Your pendulum clouds your decisions, but it cannot create new outcomes." The main phase was of no more use to December, he started his attacks. D/D/D Wave King Caesar summoned a tidal wave to sweep Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon(7/2500/2000) away. Yet as Uno's monster was stronger, the dragon could fight back. It vaporized the waves and King Caesar with solar flames. "Hey..?" That vapor did not just travel to the graveyard, some of it flowed into the deck. "Caesars destruction brings forth a new Dark Contract." The deck gave December a Dark Contract with the Swamp King spell. "And the Doomking feasts on death this turn. One monsters death increases its 'attack' by that which the fallen possessed." The rest of Caesars energy entered the living pendulum demon Armageddon(8/5400/1000). Now empowered, the DoomKing gathered purple light within its glass-body and shot it away. The chaotic rays surrounded Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon and tore it to pieces.

"Uh. Wait, aha! I can tribute Performapal Pinch Helper!" By destroying the continuous trap, Uno could cancel out the battle damage done to his monster. "Also! Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon is a pendulum monster, so I could send him to the extra deck now.. But why would I do that..when I can do this?" Uno moved the destroyed dragon to the pendulum zone. "Ta-da! Rebellion Dragon can reset my pendulum zones, and turn itself into a spell!" Xiangke Magician shattered and went into the extra deck. "No matter how many you summon, they will all fall." December ordered Leonidas to charge Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon. The synchro dragon was impaled by the phalanx king's spear.

Uno's LP: 3100

"December. I'm not gonna say I can fill your shoes. But I don't think you're right when you say that someone like us.. shouldn't have friends. I wouldn't want to be alone, I would go insane. And my friends helped me more times than I can count. Heck, Alice was the one who stopped you from taking me away!" He wouldn't be standing here if it weren't for her, December knew that. "Yeah but you wouldn't have been in that position if you didn't try to make so many friends in the first place, Uno. Besides, you can only truly understand someone, once you have fought for your life with them." Neter said teasingly. Meanwhile December activated the card that Caesar had taken from the deck. "Sign the Dark Contract with the Swamp King." This continuous spell targeted two D/D monsters in the graveyard; Marksman Tell and Caesar, and banished them. "A fusion spell card for D/D/D monsters?" Eric yelled as the two monsters were fused together to form the fallen angel D/D/D Oracle King D'Arc(7/2800/2000). Now all effect damage would heal December instead.

The turn went back to Uno, Doomking Armageddon(3000/1000) powered down. "Ya know, even if you can see the future. I doubt you can see everything at once." Uno had survived his opponents attacks plenty of times. Presumably, this was his own pendulum helping him out. "Then again, nobody is gonna be surprused by my next move! As long as Odd-Eyes Rebellion is in one pendulum zone, I can set any Pendulum monster from my deck in the other zone!" The dragons effect placed the highest scaled monster Uno could request, the scale 8 Timegazer Magician. Rebellion Dragon had the scale of 4. "Hope you aren't tired of this yet; Pendulum summon!" Two pendulum monsters could be special summoned from the extra deck; Xiangke Magician(7/2500/500) in attack mode and Performapal Drummerilla(5/1600/900) in defense mode. "This battlephase, Drummerilla can add 600 attackpoints to my monster!" The gorilla beat his own chest, boosting the Destruction Mage(3100/500) with his rhythm. "Time's up Abyss Ragnarok!" With a powerful beam blast fired from his shield, Xiangke obliterated the face-down Oblivion King.

"The power of foresight is one that the pendulum does provide, to me." December edified while his opponent placed a trap card down. Uno's turn was over. "But if you can see all and go anywhere, why don't you travel back in time when something goes awry?" Iria was getting curious about the mechanisms at play. Even something as crazy as timetravel had to have rules. "The future is always changing and it is all we can change. The past is immutable. What is lost can never be regained." The pendulum duelist answered as he drew his card. "Then why chase this Tempus? If you can never undo his damage?" Adamant now asked. "To stop him from causing further damage. He cannot keep erasing time, the powers he plays with could scar existence forever." During Decembers standby phase, both Dark Contract spells burned 1000 of his lifepoints away. Except, thanks to the Oracle King, the damage was converted to healing points instead. "Right now he is bound to time, but if he breaks free.. nothing can stop him."

Decembers LP: 3300

Something else happened during the standby phase. The scale numbers of the Savants went up and down twice. "Huh?" Galilei was now a scale 3, and Kepler a scale 8 spell card. "The power of pendulum is sometimes unstable, only D/D monsters can survive this imbalance. All other monsters whose levels do no match these scales will be destroyed. Time is running out." December clenched his fist. "To me, Conquest King Kaiser! Rise, D/D/D Cruel Dragon King Beowulf!" The Hellgate Contract claimed the D/D/D Kaiser monster from his deck. The Swampkings Contract kicked off another fusion. Leonidas and D/D Cerberus were fused together on the field to create a werewolf(8/3000/2500) in gold armored and redclothed garbs. "Pendulum summon!" One of the fusion materials, Leonidas, was resummoned from the extra deck by the Savants. Conquest King Kaiser(7/2800/2100) appeared in the last monster zone. The pendulum summoned Kaiser negated the effects of all the enemy's face-up cards.

"Kaiser shatters my magic twice, to strike thrice!" The Lord of Conquest destroyed both dark Contracts, which allowed it to make two more attacks. "Beowulf, add the pain of piercing to all my D/D monsters!" And at the same time the wolflord electrified all other D/D/D monsters. They could all now pierce through defense points. "Fall, Magician." Leonidas attacked Xiangke and got counter-attacked by the magician(3100/500) as it was again powered up by Performapal Drummerilla's effect. "Grow stronger, Armageddon." Leonidas died and his attackpoints were given to the D/D/D Doomking(5600/1000). "Heh. It's not gonna be that easy! I activate Refine Osacillation!" Uno flipped his face-down continuous trap. "Once a turn, I can destroy one card in my pendulum zone, and place another from the graveyard in that zone! An Odd-Eye for and Odd-Eye!" Odd-Eyes Rebellion was destroyed, and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon jumped into the pendulum zone. "When Pendulum Dragon is a spell card, I take no battle damage from battles with pendulum monsters!" Though Xiangke Magician fell prey to DoomKing's attack, Odd-Eyes nullified the damage forces.

Decembers LP: 3200

 _Refine Oscillation, Continuous Trap_  
 _Once per turn, during either players turn, you can target 1 card in your Pendulum zone; destroy it, then place 1 Pendulum Monster from your hand, graveyard or extra deck in that pendulum zone.  
Destroy this card during your endphase._

"Why will he not die!?" August cursed loudly. "Because I am.. not a quitter. By the way, you set off Illusion Balloon!" Uno unveiled his other set quickplay spell, creating five balloons. "Let's see if there are any Performapals on top of my deck?" Illusion Balloon excavated the top 5 cards from his deck, several of them were Performapals. "Performapal Trumpanda!" The trumpet-playing panda(3/800/800) ended up with the lucky part and was special summoned in defense mode. "His effect is not negated, so he can block one attack against a pendulum monsters this turn!" This would save him from Decembers continued attacks. "Perish, Performapal!" Oracle King D'Arc stabbed Performapal Drummerilla in the chest with her claws. Conquest King Kaiser used his three attacks on the leftovers. Trumpanda negated the first attack, then died to the second. Uno's Oafdragon Magician(5/2100/1400) was killed by the third. Uno did not lose a single lifepoint, all thanks to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "Suffer." But Odd-Eyes did not block direct damage. Uno took a hit from The Cruel Lord Beowulf, who ran his claws through the duelist. "Kgaaha!"

Uno's LP: 100

"No, Uno!" Alice shouted. That attack looked the most painful of all. "Heh." Only Uno was still grinning, even as he wiped blood from his mouth. "100 Lifepoints, the most dramatic setting. I don't think I could have asked for a better pendulum opponent, December.. No offense, Iria." Uno coughed and laughed. "None taken." Though Iria did not speak her mind, she had already accepted that these two had far surpassed her as a pendulum duelist. "He would make a good ally, wouldn't he December?" June suggested. "The same can be said for Tempus." December placed a trap card down and ended his turn. During the endphase, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon was destroyed. "Yeah, well. I don't know this Tempus guy, or why he keeps messing with time. And I know even less about my own past. But one thing is for sure; I'm not him!"

"I'll use the Performapal Recasting spell! It shuffles Performapal Lizardraw in my hand back to my deck, to draw two cards." To get his fresh start, Uno would need a new hand. The first draw spell helped him get another. "I'll also use Pot of Riches. This spell returns three pendulum monsters to my deck, to draw two cards!" He sent Pendulum Sorcerer, Trumpanda and Skullcrobat Joker back from the extra deck and graveyard. "By the way, Iria. I am still glad that I dueled you first, because I learned a weakness that day. And all pendulum decks have that weakness!" Uno activated one of the cards he had drawn. "Harmonic Oscillation!" The spell targeted the two Savants. "You are going to use my Pendulums.." The scale 3 Galilei and scale 8 Kepler, Uno could treat them as his scales for one turn to pendulum summon monsters from his extra deck. "You bet!" Uno grabbed five cards. "Go get him pals!" Performapal Drummerilla, Oafdragon Magician in defense position, Xiangke Magician, Xiangsheng Magician(4/500/1500) and Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon in attack position. They were all revived.

"Awesome! I didn't know you could pendulum summon the XYZ-dragon too!" Eric cheered. "Of course. While it is face-up in the extra deck, it can be summoned like a level 7 pendulum monster!" Uno clarified. "Oafdragon Magician, I want Wisdom-Eye Magician!" The effect of the Oaf mage placed one of the Magicians in the graveyard, back in Uno's hand. "Xiangsheng, show everyone your power!" The archer lady fired her arrow through Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon. "Your effect is to mirror one of my monsters attackpoints!" That arrow returned to her and powered her(3000/1500) up significantly. "I am coming for you, December! Drummerilla will play his beat for Xiangke again, and we are good to go!" The Gorilla's effect targeted the Destruction Mage(3100/500). "Xiangsheng, Odd-Eyes. This is gonna hurt, but you gotta do it. Take down Armageddon and Beowulf!" Uno's and Decembers monsters were equally powerful. The archer destroyed herself to kill the DoomKing. Rebellion Dragon took the Cruel Dragon King down with it into the grave. "Kaiser is yours, Xiangke!" The last magician fired star-blasts from its shield to blast the Conquest King to smithereens.

Decembers LP: 2900

"By the way, I am using Odd-Eyes Rebellions spell effect again." When it died, the XYZ-Pendulum destroyed Timegazer and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, before placing itself in the red pendulum zone. "Time for main phase 2! Odd-Eyes, set Dragonpulse Magician!" This time Uno used the long-braided swordsman in white and counterpart to Dragonpit Magician; placing it in the blue zone. "Then I re-activate Refine Oscillation! I switch Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon with Timegazer Magician!" The dragon gave its zone back to the magician it had replaced. "Now I already pendulum summoned, buuuut.. Now that I have a Magician paired up with Dragonpulse, he can can discard a pendulum card from my hand, to destroy one face-up monster on the field!" The pendulum monster Uno tossed away was Wisdom-Eye Magician. "I destroy Oracle King D'Arc! I mean she's clearly more of a queen anyway." Dragonpulse used its sword to summon down a bolt of green lightning. That bolt struck down the Oracle demoness as if she had been judged by the heavens. "He wiped out his entire field.." Uno's comeback stunned everyone, even Decembers allies.

"D/D Recruit." But to their leader, the battle was far from over. He activated a recruitment trap card. "You control lives, more than I. That difference between us will come back to me." For each monster that Uno controlled, December could add one D/D monster or one Dark Contract spell from his graveyard to his hand. "Whoa.." That amount was three. December took back the Dark Contracts with the Swamp King, Dark Contract with the HellGate and D/D Night Howl. "Well it's certainly your show now, December." Two cards were set in the spell/trap zone and Uno ended his turn. "..." December reactivated his spell card, Dark Contract with the Swampking. "But I have one request!" And Uno activated one of his traps. "Let's stick to pendulum summons! I reveal Pendulum Area! Since all my pals are pendulum monsters, I can destroy my two pendulum spells.." Dragonpulse and Odd-Eyes Rebellion were forced to abandon their zones, the power void they left caused a rumbling in the ground. "Now, neither player can special summon monsters this turn, except by using their pendulums! Well, do you like it?" Galilei and Kepler now had the scales 5 and 6, nothing could be pendulum summoned between those two.

"You still do not see that there is no hope in this." December activated the Hellgate contract as well, and claimed a second D/D Savant Galilei with it. "Galilei, return the pendulum to me!" By discarding that Savant, December could move D/D Savant Kepler from the field to his hand. "Uh oh." The opponent placed Kepler back in its pendulum zone immediately, as a scale 10 spell. "PENDULUM SUMMON!" Together with the other Galilei, he special summoned the D/D/D Kings, Leonidas, Abyss Ragnarok and Armageddon, from his extra deck. "Everything that can die, must die. And will die!" He then entered the battlephase, intending to crush Drummerilla and than Xiangke to end the duel definitively. "That doesn't mean life has to be about misery! What we do with our time is what matters! And I am going to make as many people happy as I can." Uno looked at Alice. "With a classic.. go Hippo Carnival!"

"Hippo Carnival!?" Alice gasped. The most unlikely card came to Uno's rescue. His quickplay spell created three Hippo tokens(1/0/0) and summoned them in defense mode. "Of all paths..". December could not attack anything else but the dancing hippos. "You are so young, more than any other. You believe you can tell us what life is?" December grew more and more tired of Uno's antics. Leonidas, Ragnarok and Armageddon attacked and destroyed all three tokens. "It is impossible for you to understand." During his 2nd main phase he normal summoned D/D Night Howl(3/300/600) and activated the effect of Abyss Ragnarok to sacrifice the Howling tuner to banish Performapal Drummerilla. Finally, December placed a trap card down. "End."

"So, it all comes down to this." Uno could not afford another turn. His deck had to save him now, or else he would not have a future in this world anymore. "Alice? Do you think I can do it?" Neither would she, and that was far more important. "I..." All this time she had been watching, despairing and hoping. "You.." When this duel began, she thought Uno had no chance at all. Yet he survived time after time. Miracles could happen more than once. "You can! You can win!" Now she believed, she had faith. "Yeah, go get that jerk!" Eric also spiritedly encouraged him. "Do not let Dom down." Iria had her own way of expressing her confidence in him. "Give this duel the ending it deserves." And Adamant could say he had seen a once-in-a-lifetime battle. "Thanks guys and girls. December, you heard what they said! I draw!" Uno took the card, a pendulum monster. "Set scale one; Performapal Monkeyboard!" On one side sat the keyboard-playing monkey. Its effect gave Uno the opportunity to add a level 4 or lower Performapal from his deck to his hand. "I feel like a scale eight! Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn!" That added card, a white unicorn, appeared on the other side. "Performapal and Odd-Eyes?" Neter flinched. Uno kept making new monsters. "I.." Decembers visions did not include this.

"Go! Pendulum summon!" Between the scales, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, Performapal Pendulum Sorcerer(4/1500/800) and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon(7/2500/2000) were summoned from the extra deck. The Sorcerer destroyed himself to add a new Performapal to Uno's hand, Performapal Elephammer. "You can help too, Elephammer!" As Uno controlled two Performapal cards, he could summon the Elephant(2600/1800) without tributes. "But there is only one way to settle this, with the pendulum card that stuck with me the longest! I activate the effect of Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn! He can add the attackpoints of one Performapal to another monster!" The unicorn drew power from Elephammer and channeled it into the Pendulum Dragon(7/5100/2000) with its horn. "Odd-Eyes classic can double battle damage. So.. " Uno pointed a finger at the D/D/D monsters. "You are going down, December!" Odd-Eyes gathered its immense flames and selected its target. "...!" And though Uno was free to choose, he somehow had the feeling he had to pick Leonidas. "Odd-Eyes attack the Rebel King!"

"To choose that target." December shuddered, possibly for the first time in a long while. "Your foresight is improving." He could not survive 5000 points of battle damage, he could not survive this duel. So he discarded a card from his hand. "Savant Nostradamus, make him feel our pain!" As Odd-Eyes clashed with Leonidas, a lens-scope pendulum statue came in between. "December, no!" June seemed aghast at this development. "What is.." Uno cringed, because Nostradamus was reflecting the damage to him as well. And his crystal pendant was going insane again. "Uno, you will not change the future!" Decembers pendulum glowed, the other pendulums glowed. The light exploded across the streets. "It does not end here!" The entire town was enveloped..

Decembers LP: 0 Uno's LP: 0

 _D/D Savant Nostradamus, 2/600/600 Dark/Fiend/Pendulum  
_ _6[You cannot Pendulum Summon monsters, except "D/D" monsters. This effect cannot be negated]6  
_ _Once per turn, when you take take battle or effect damage: You can destroy this card, and if you do, inflict that damage to your opponent instead.]6  
_ _If you would take battle or effect damage: You can send this card from your hand to the graveyard, and if you do, inflict that damage to your opponent as well._

(To be Concluded?)

 **New Cards used by Uno  
** Dragonpulse Magician  
Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn

-  
 _Refine Oscillation  
_ Pendulum Area

 **New Cards used by December**  
 _D/D Savant Nostradamus_

-  
D/D/D Cruel Dragon King Beowulf

-  
Mystical Space Typhoon  
Dark Contract with the Swamp King

-  
D/D Recruit


	92. Reverse Annex

**Redux 090: Reverse Annex**

"Hello once more, Uno."

The last thing Uno saw was a light too intense and loud to keep looking or listening at. He had to close his eyes for even a second. "What the.." The first thing he was allowed to hear afterwards, was the voice of a girl he had met twice in the past. Then he saw where he was.. "Again?" A minute ago he had been standing and facing his opponent in an open area. Presently, he was comfortably seated in a big chair within a dark musty building. He had gone through transitions like this before, transitions that echoed the feeling of waking up from a long dream. But he did not dream his duel with December, Uno knew that. He could not say the same about this place. "Veronica.." The library, the sisters. They transported him here... or he transported himself. "Uno." The middle sister sat in a chair on the opposite end of the table. This was how had left them after his duel; as if nothing had changed. Allthough Veronica now had her hair pinned back, and her dress covered in boa feathers. "Where are my friends?" A million questions came to his mind, just as usual. "Are you sure you want to ask that?" Just as usual, they were playing games and trading questions. Uno would not humor them this time. That didn't matter to Uno though. He'd passed the stage of questioning everything that defied sense and reason the last time. "You can believe I am!"

"They are here." Veronica merely smiled and clapped her hands. The noise activated every lamp in the house, casting lights across rows and rows of bookshelves. "A floor down to be precise." With the darkness pushed back, Uno could see that he was now on a raised floor, and that there many more floors above him and below him. Bridges connected the four wings that were separated by a large clearing in the middle. Not only was this not where this table had stood previously, this was place was far larger than it had ever appeared before.

"Guys!" What mattered was that he could see Alice, Eric, Iria and Adamant down there. The four of them were resting unconscious on the floor and couch. "Tch." Uno left his chair and ran towards them. "... They're sleeping.." They were alive, they were here.. "Has to be done. They aren't ready to experience our home, not just yet. We only handle one client at a time, three questions at a time." The sister said all matter-of-factly. "This place.. is no dream. You aren't a dream." Only just now did Uno start noticing that he still had his pendulum around his neck. He was here in the flesh, and so were his friends. Just when Uno thought he could get a handle on things, he let his curiosity get the better of him. "...Just what are you?" There was question number two. And Veronica had a big smile on her face.

"We thought you'd never ask." This was now Cloe's cue to enter the scene. "Guh!" The red-eyed girl lied on the floor right next to Eric, with her hands clasped together. "At least you asked a lot sooner than those before you, Uno. They only ever cared about their own stories." She got up and walked away from him. "Hey, wait a second. What about the answer?" It didn't sound to him like he had asked something they couldn't respond to. "We have another question to finish off first." Veronica said, her voice loud and clear. "Still?" Uno looked up at her and then back at the library. Cloe was gone again, of course she was. The little sisters voice was just as audible as the other's though. "Yes. You asked for all your friends." She reminded him. "You made a lot. You should've been prouder of yourself!" It was obvious what they were saying; who they were talking about. "Emily.. Zach." In fact there a lot of names, some he wouldn't even call friends. "So, to extend my first question, you're going to tell me where they are now?"

"Why tell you? When we can show you? That way we can skip the part where you doubt our every word." Veronica pointed her finger at a nearby door. "Through there.. eh?" Uno wasn't sure what to expect, but he had to find out. He turned the knob and pulled the door back. "Whoa.." He was led straight back to the courtyard of the synchro guilds' castle. The two locations had been connected through this one opening. Except he wasn't really there. "Whoops..hey wait a second." He realized this when several fusion duelists walked by him as he stood there in plain view. They didn't notice him or the door, he was a ghost. "These visions.. " When the pendulum showed him Alice's past, and what Veronica was showed him now; the two experiences were frighteningly similar. _"This isn't happening, not right now.."_

The events in front of him were those that transpired right after he had teleported his friends away from the castle. That was at least an hour ago. From the point of view of the three guilds here, the clash between the three dragons had just been a normal if not somewhat overpowering lightshow. The disappearance of five duelists escaped their notice for the time being. They only saw the result of the battle royal; the defeat of Cassius and the loss of all three dragons to Dame Phoebe. The Fusion Guild had won. "Now then, are you a man of your word, Ichirou?" One duelist remained, but against such an overwhelming force there was little he could have done. He had thrown in his hat already. "A deal is a deal, milady. If it is cooperation you want, the XYZ-guild will give it." The XYZ-duelist placed the Dark Rebellion XYZ dragon card on his disk and extracted the decryption code from it. With a push of a button, he submitted the code towards Phoebe's dueldisk. "Smart choice. After all, with Roma's demise and Adamants return, you barely have anything left to hold your guild together. Now you at least have some power for yourself, heheh." Phoebe glared down at the XYZ-duelists below. They were forced to surrender throw off their dueldisks.

"But what about you, Cassius? Will you give us your resources freely? Or do we have to be mean?" The Dame asked as she pushed her finger against her cheek. "I will never cooperate!" Cassius roared. "Boo. I was afraid your answer would be something like that.." She snapped her fingers, which Martel down below immediately responded to by grabbing Bakker. "No!" Cassius shouted when the kid mercilessly used his ability on the fusion spy. "Aaaaahh!" Bakkers muffled screams came through as his body was transformed and changed into a mere data card. "You witch!" The synchro-duelist cursed. He would lunge at her if she had been anywhere near him. "Oh I barely touched him. Correct me if I get anything wrong; but the way synchronization works, your friend Bakker will still have a body on the other side of the world. Just like you will." Phoebe aimed her finger at Cassius like a gun. "So say you will work with me, pretty please? I would much rather have here with me, as one big happy family." Cassius held his arms against his side and stood firm. "I will not repeat myself, Dame Phoebe." He had sworn to fight her, no matter on which side of time his mind rested.

"Shame." She pulled her triggerfinger, and Martel activated his power again. "Aaaagh!" The synchro-leader vanished like a flash of light. What remained was the card with the image of his face frozen in defiance.

"Well, glad I did not say no." Ichirou laughed nervously. "Me too! We are going to be best of friends." Phoebe smiled innocently. "Yes, about that. Would it trouble you to share your plan for the world with your new partner? What do you need us to do, take down the barrier?" Not a minute in, and the XYZ-duelist was already fawning at her feet, metaphorically. "Oh I like you. You have no self-respect at all." The girl giggled. "Nah, you don't need to do a thing. The country is better off this way. As for what our plan is to avoid the destruction of the world? Well, we like to be all inclusive. What you need to picture... is what happened to Cassius over there.. on a worldwide scale." That was all the hints she would be giving him for now. "Worldwide?" Ichirou made an intrigued noise.

"Anyway. My friends will round up the rest of the synchro guild. I am sure not all of them will be willing to side with Cassius.. or throw their lives away. Not that we mind _either_ way. As for us.. It is time to open the vaults." The fusion guild already controlled most of dreamworld. Even without the XYZ-guilds help, they would have gotten access to the network itself. All Phoebe needed to do now was to put in the remaining codes on her dueldisk. "Yesss." The codes worked, the hidden files were being decrypted right before her eyes. "I wonder Ichirou. Did your guild truly know what kind of power Dom was hiding?" To pass the time, the guildleader gave her new partner a pop-quiz. "We know plenty; the Gods, the Earthbound, the Numbers. Need I go on?" His replies left a satisfied smirk on the womans face. "You do have a good source then. That's good. It's so rare to find someone these days who appreciates the forgotten.." She was moments away from gaining access now. Uno could look right over her shoulder without a care in the world. With abilities like these, he was not surprised that the Sisters had so much knowledge.

Unfortunately, and cruelly, this showing came to an end. "What.." The people and the castle fell into a haze, as he was pushed back into the door by an invisible force. "Hey Hey. Don't stop now!" Uno grumbled. He definitely wouldn't have cut the scene there. "That is all you needed to see, for context." Cloe's disembodied voice told him. "Context? Context!? Why did you even get me here to begin with? To see what happened to Cassius? He's not my friend!" He protested. "He was once. The past hasn't changed just because your feelings did." Cloe chided him as the gateway opened once more. _"I don't recognize this part..."_ He was in a different area of the castle now, deep inside the mountain. "Emily!" That was when he heard someone shout a familiar name. _"Emily?!"_ It was Akai and others from her guild. They rushed towards a big metal door at the end of a hall.

"Akai?" The duelists opened the door and walked into the room. "Are you okay?" It was the safe room where Cassius had left Emily. "I am alright I think. Wait. What are they doing here!?" Among the duelists here, Emily spotted a few friends of the Circle. "Running away. The fusion guild has taken over. We were headed for the teleporter down below, but Cassius insisted we take you with us." One Circle member claimed. "We're kinda forced to work together, it's either them or those carding monsters up above." Akai did not like this arrangement, but the Circle knew the only way out of this base. "Carding? Fusion Guild? Teleporter? What the hell is going on? Where is Cassius? Where is Alice? Where are my friends?" Emily had been out of the loop for so long, she could not begin to form a coherent picture of the situation. "There's no time to answer all of tha! Cassius is already gone, the Fusion guild wasted him!" Jet shouted. He was already halfway down the hallway. "Cassius is gone?" Emily could not believe what she was hearing. "He isn't dead. Neither are your friends and sister. As far as we can tell, they escaped on their own. Emily, you have a choice. Trust us for now, or take your chances with Phoebe and Ichirou."

That was not much of a choice for her. Emily grunted and got up. She would stick with them for now, as they raced down the elevator shaft to reach Vespers domain. _"Thank god she's alright, sorta."_ Uno could not follow, the background changed once more to bring him a few floors up. _"Zach?"_ There was the other disciple, hunched in a corner of the synchro base, staring dead ahead. Uno didn't understand what had happened to him. Then there was James Brandt, being driven towards an unknown location inside a limousine.. Uno didn't get that either. He also Heather Brandt, frantically arguing with her coworkers about the nations crisis. There were so many in turmoil, and nothing that could be done.

 _"Even if I could travel back in time, I cannot change the past without destroying the present? Was December right about that?"_ That was the last vision, all went dark. The door and the library were gone, it was just him and his friends now. "You understand don't you. You aren't seeing this because you can help anyone, you are seeing to this to understand you are too late to affect anything." The sisters were in the shadows. They could still read his thoughts. "You sound just like all the other visitors. They do not understand that time is not kind." Though his questions didn't count until he spoke them out loud.. "The other visitors? Who would.." Uno's mind created a few more of those. "Careful. We let you get away with minor prying while we were answering your first question. That liberty has passed." The unseen Cloe sent him a warning. But this time Uno decided not to take it under advisement. "What did Tempus ask you?"

"Interesting. You never once considered getting back to the very first thing you wanted from us; your name." The little sister let out an odd little laugh, it sounded like a rattlesnake hissing. "I already know what I want. After everything I've seen I can't pretend that I am the most important piece of the puzzle anymore. And besides, what good is knowing my own name gonna do, if I don't have a world to live in anymore?" Tick tock, the clock was still moving. He couldn't go back to save Emily, Dom or Zach in the past world. He would have to move forward, into a new realm. And ultimately, this crisis wouldn't end until Tempus himself was caught. "Well, you are quite good at leaping to where you want to be. You are right, we know Tempus as well.. We know his name." Veronica talked about him as if he was their least favorite person in the universe. "He asked us about a lot of things; the guardians of time, the laws of travel, the identities of his pursuers.. and the limits of his powers. He has come here often, he always knew where to find us."

"Well, then.. I guess this takes me back to my second topic... What are you?"

"We were the yesterdays.." Cloe said. "We are today." Veronica said. "... and you will be the tomorrows. Yeah yeah I get that." Uno answered for Margot, the sister who had yet to speak a word. "You know what I want to hear. Are you real? Are you human? Everything I hear makes it sound like this timeline isn't your first rodeo. And your memory is pretty good too." He wouldn't let them get away with metaphors. He had to know what he was dealing with; where on the power totem pole these ladies rested. "A biological question then. Well, we can answer that with a story." Veronica and Cloe walked out of of a veil of darkness. The darkness had hands, and those hands held a book. "!?" They were standing in the shadow of the last sister. "Once, there was a world where time did not matter, where mans souls gave life to spirits.. and those spirits could grow into gods. There was an age of magic and wonder. But over time, that magic began to wane.. and the spirits faded from the world of man. They became myths and fairytales."

"So..you're spirits?" Uno asked. "Were." Cloe mused. "We are so much more... now." Veronica sighed. "Many stories fit us; fates, witches, goddesses. We can see the now, the before and the after. We write it down, from beginning to end. Some say we even create each destiny, that we control time..." Whether that last part was true or not, they did not say. "..Then what can you do? What do you want?" Uno thought he would have been a little bit wiser after all of this, but he understood even less now. He'd seen part of what they could do; help him regain control of his dragon cards.. of his spirits. Could they do this because they were spirits too? But as he suspected.. ".. There will be no fourth question, Uno." His time was up. "Damn. I really should make a list of top questions one of these days." He assumed that their meetings were not yet at an end, but who could tell without asking? "Don't feel too down on yourself, you still have time left." Veronica laughed, as Uno heard the noise of flipping pages again. "About 89 Pages, Margot would say."

"What?" Uno couldn't help but flinch. The book held by the darkness was his book, with his name on it. _"The ending.."_ The third sister slammed the book shut before Uno could catch a glimpse and tossed it aside. The book never hit the ground; it kept falling. "!" There was no floor, the pit below stretched down indefinitely. "This.." And he dropped into the abyss along with it.

"Oof!"

"Uno!" This was the real world. "I.. We were worried.. You didn't wake up. We didn't know what was going on!" Alice was there, her face looming over his. "Heh.." He couldn't help but smile. "Uno?" She was surprised to see his reaction. "Sorry. I just remembered that this is how we first met. Ergh.. it misses a soft bed though." He lied with his back to the rough soil. "Everyone's here?" He crawled back up and saw Eric and Iria a few feet away. "Yeah.. but where is Here?" Eric did not understand at all what had happened. The streets and the town buildings looked nothing like those of his hometown anymore. "We were swallowed.. by the force of your duel, and brought here. But this location is not a different one." Iria knew they were not teleported distance-wise, since the mountain range was still the exact same. "Did the XYZ guild do all of this?" And the color of the sky had gone from strange to stranger. "No. They didn't." Adamant returned from a quick scouting walk at this point. "Uno.. you know this world as well, don't you?"

"...Yeah." Uno shook his head to get back his senses. "We're in the other timeline."

"This?" Eric gasped. "This is even crazier than I thought." Gone was the barrier. Instead there were curved drones at every angle. And on the horizon there was a majestic city with towers that reached as far as the clouds. The world Eric knew could not create such wonders. "Did you bring us here on purpose?" Iria cursed. This seemed like a setback. "Not on purpose, but it must have been my pendulum who broke through. They did say the barrier between the worlds was at its weakest here." Uno hadn't planned on this. He guessed the sisters had a hand in this too. "But this isn't terrible news, Iria. I know that Emily and Zach are alright for now. But Dom is here somewhere. So is UNO. I have a feeling the fusion guild will come here too eventually. All roads lead to this world. Isn't that right, Adamant?" Besides Uno, the XYZ duelist was probably the one with the most knowledge about this timeline. "That is correct. Now that a guild has all three keycards, the next step is to take the legendary cards that Dom hid inside his network. With those, the duelists from our world will fight the duelists of this world. The winners will be judged, and the losers will have their world destroyed. At least, that is what I believe.. That was what I planned."

"That? That sounds insane. And how can you be so sure that Zach is alright? What did you see?" Though Iria enjoyed the thought of finding her master. Even she could not free herself from worrying about her fellow disciple. "I saw it. And I trust what I see." Uno grabbed his pendulum. "Alice. I am going to make everything better. For you too. I will find a way to save the two worlds, to save your family, and to make sure you can stay in them." That was another promise he intended to keep. "I.." Despite the tears underneath her eyes, Alice finally found a smile inside herself. "Thank you.." She wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. "I'm glad I met you Uno, no matter what!" Uno took a deep breath and ran his hand through her hair. "Me too.. Me too." He looked ahead, to the new world. _"Well.. this is home."_

...

Far away, at the top of the tallest cloud-piercing building in the middle of the greatest city, a light just like Uno's lit up. A figure walked to the window that looked out over the world, holding a pendant in her hand. "What is it, milady?" A servant walked up to her, noticing her concerns. "It... is Uno. He is alive. And he has come back."

 **(To be Continued in The Rise and Fall of History Part II)**


End file.
